Brief Encounter

Brief Encounter (1945) is a British film directed by David Lean starring Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard.

Comparison with the play

As is quite usual with films based on stage plays, the film shows most of the places which are only talked about in the play: Dr. Lynn's flat, Laura's home, a cinema, a restaurant, Boots. Additionally, a number of scenes have been added which are not mentioned in the play: a scene on a lake in a rowing boat where Dr. Harvey gets his feet wet; Laura wandering about alone in the dark, sitting down on a park bench and smoking in public; a drive in the country in a borrowed car.

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Certain scenes are made less ambiguous and more dramatic in the film:

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• The "explicit" scene where the two lovers are about to commit adultery is toned down. In the play it is left for the audience to decide whether they actually have sex or not. In the film, Laura has only just arrived at Dr. Lynn's flat when its owner comes home, and she is immediately led out by Dr. Harvey via the fire escape.
• When Laura wants to throw herself in front of an express train, the film confirms her intention by means of voice-over narration, but "she fails to take the Karenina way out and walks back to the buffet" (Frances Gray).

The film uses narrative techniques like frame stories and voice-over: the ending of the story is right at the beginning of the movie, which is then repeated at the end; and there is voice-over with Laura addressing her husband, or rather Laura imagining addressing her husband, in a dream-like state.

Related Topics:
Frame stories - Voice-over

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