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Brief Encounter

Brief Encounter (1945)

tomatometer

60

Average Rating: 6.5/10
Critic Reviews: 5
Fresh: 3 | Rotten: 2

No consensus yet.

audience

90

liked it
Average Rating: 4.2/5
User Ratings: 10,439

My Rating

Movie Info

Based on Noël Coward's play "Still Life," Brief Encounter is a romantic, bittersweet drama about two married people who meet by chance in a London railway station and carry on an intense love affair. Sentimental yet down-to-earth and set in pre-World War II England, the film follows British housewife Laura Jesson (Celia Johnson), who is on her way home, but catches a cinder in her eye. By chance, she meets Dr. Alec Harvey (Trevor Howard), who removes it for her. The two talk for a few minutes

Unrated,

Drama, Romance, Classics

Sep 7, 2004

Universal Pictures

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All Critics (32) | Top Critics (5) | Fresh (29) | Rotten (4) | DVD (10)

Sheer perfection-the gold standard of tragic romances whose influence can still be seen to this day.

October 9, 2012 Full Review Source: Time Out New York
Time Out New York
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Cyril Raymond manages to invest the stodgy character with a lovable quality.

November 6, 2007 Full Review Source: Variety
Variety
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Rarely rises above the level of the old women's magazines.

November 6, 2007 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | Comments (5)
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Some films don't age well, and no doubt Brief Encounter had more of an emotional effect in the social climate of post-war Britain.

February 9, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out | Comment (1)
Time Out
Top Critic IconTop Critic

An uncommonly good little picture -- and one which is frankly designed to appeal to that group of film-goers who are provoked by the 'usual movie tripe.'

May 20, 2003 Full Review Source: New York Times
New York Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

... still embraced as one of the most romantic films ever made, and it has earned its reputation.

May 4, 2012 Full Review Source: Turner Classic Movies Online
Turner Classic Movies Online

Haunting in its evocative mood -- one enhanced by Robert Krasker's cinematography and Lean's meticulous, muted direction -- Brief Encounter primarily hinges on the extraordinary performance by Celia Johnson.

April 25, 2012 Full Review Source: Creative Loafing
Creative Loafing

Retrata seu par romântico com sensibilidade e complexidade (especialmente para a época), pecando apenas pela insistência em introduzir diversas cenas de alívio cômico conduzidas por Holloway e Carey.

April 15, 2009
Cinema em Cena

Lovely, small-scale romance by David Lean.

March 17, 2009
KPBS.org

Solid romantic classic directed by David Lean. Johnson and Howard are terrific.

October 16, 2008
Video-Reviewmaster.com

David Lean finds poetry and lyricism in Noel Coward's initimate dram about the romance between two ordinary people married to others, acted with admirable restraint by Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson.

February 15, 2008 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com
EmanuelLevy.Com

Back in cinemas and welcomed by me.

November 6, 2007 Full Review Source: Observer [UK]
Observer [UK]

Stodgy and dated.

August 26, 2007 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | Comments (4)
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Go and see it again - and try not to giggle at the clipped accents.

August 3, 2007 Full Review Source: This is London
This is London

David Lean paints heartbreak with perfect decorum.

August 3, 2007 Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph
Daily Telegraph

The loveliest period piece imaginable.

August 3, 2007 Full Review Source: Independent

Twee, but you can't help but get involved.

August 3, 2007 Full Review Source: Times [UK]
Times [UK]

Noble and utterly heartbreaking.

August 3, 2007 Full Review Source: Film4
Film4

Beautifully monochrome rendering of a love that cannot be.

August 3, 2007 Full Review Source: Empire Magazine
Empire Magazine

A classic of passionate reserve.

February 11, 2006 Full Review Source: Guardian [UK]
Guardian [UK]

Perfect.

November 6, 2005
ColeSmithey.com

Audience Reviews for Brief Encounter

Boring. I just didn't care for the relationship or the characters. There's also no story, just multiple scenes of the romance developing (I guess you can call that the story, an uninteresting one at that. Only for romance fans). The movie's running time is less than 90 minutes, but trust me, it feels as if it's over two hours. It never goes anywhere interesting thus making it a dull film.
October 17, 2012
Market Man
Eric Shankle

Super Reviewer

Two strangers meet in a train station waiting area, both happily married yet magnetically drawn to each other in spite of that. David Lean's adult question, set to Sergei Rachmaninoff's yearning 2nd Concerto, simply wonders what we may want once we have everything we want and has endured for its grown up (if dramatic) consideration of the same.
August 16, 2012
UniversalDreamer

Super Reviewer

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Foreign Titles

  • Brief Encounter (1945) (DE)
  • Brief Encounter (1945) (UK)
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