There have been and still are a number of film "classics" which I feel bound to watch. Not all of the ones I have watched in the past have been very rewarding. Classic status can be quite valid where a film was groundbreaking at the time it was made but the techniques it pioneered may since have become quite common place. Or sometimes they broke new ground socially and were shocking or surprising at the time but now lack much punch or surprise.
I had placed "Brief Encounter" on my films list with my DVD rental service because it was "a classic" and felt I should see it, and, when it turned up I was not enthusiastic. I expected a slowly paced film with an overbearing musical score with a substandard print.
The first surprise was that it was written by Noel Coward. The second was that it was directed by David Lean who directed among many others, Lawrence of Arabia, which is one of my all time favourite films. So things were off to a good start. The print and transfer to DVD were also excellent and the crisp blank and white photography was a delight to look at in its own right.
The final surprise was simply how engaging and approachable the film was. It is firmly set in 1945 and that world simply does not exist any more on a physical, social or moral level. And yet the film at its heart was about love and temptation, two things which are timeless. The course of the romance is credible and one is drawn along in its current.
The film is not a morality play, nor does it seek to preach in any shape or form, but it does suggest that although the pursuit of romantic love is strong and powerful, there are other things in life which are just as valuable and precious and should not be overlooked in the search for long term happiness. It is a study of emotional attachment and loss. It is not overly sentimental and never drifts into soft focus or Mills and Boon territory. I would recommend the film to all but the most hardened cynics.
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