Brief Encounter

What a film! All the more amazing that it comprises such a small-scale, almost insignificant event. The story is simplicity itself: a married middle-aged woman is tempted to have an affair with a married man, but in the end they decide not to consummate their passion and he leaves for Africa. Why would such a simple, even trivial plot become so effective? Here are some ideas.

• This is a genuine women’s film. It is shown from the point of view of the woman. When Laura Jesson (Celia Johnson) waits for Alec Harvey outside the hospital, we see him running down the steps just as the woman would see it. The film seems to be inside her; we recognise and comprehend her feeling when she is sitting in the train that everyone is looking at her as an adulterer.
• Celia Johnson’s face is not perfection; that makes her performance all the more convincing.
• There are expressionist touches to the film that heighten the drama: the shadows on the walls of the station corridors, the endless noise of the trains rushing through the station, Johnson’s dishevelled state when she becomes overwhelmed by passion.
• Laura Jesson’s husband is played by Cyril Raymond, and it is one of the great character actor cameos. When Laura Jesson realises there is a spark of passion about her encounter with another man, she reveals all to her husband: “I met a stranger and had lunch with him and then went to the pictures with him”. Her husband, busy with the crossword, says only “That’s nice, dear.” Her husband is well-meaning but lacking any insight.
• Jane says the moral of the story is, what do you expect from a woman who has nothing to do all day? There may be some truth in this, but it’s a very common-sense response to a film about passion.
• The male role, Dr Jennings, played by Trevor Howard, is not depicted in anything like the detail of Celia's Johnson's part - his wife is never seen. Nonetheless, he is shown as a sensitive man, rather than a lothario. We could imagine (and other characters in the film confirm it) from his good looks and dress that he could be easy to fall in love with. 
• But most of all it is a study of loss of reputation. What happens with Dr jennings doesn’t really matter; it is the Laura Jesson’s look ofpenic when she is recognised having a champagne lunch with her would-be partner. Her face is utterly, powerfully convincing.
• Finally, those trains! The endless sound of express trains in the background, like the searing passion in Laura Jesson’s heart.