Brief Encounter (1945)
Before he turned to directing vast epics David Lean directed this adaptation of a Noel Coward play staring Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard. A married housewife and doctor have an affair after a chance meeting at a railway station.
There is something very British and reserved about this film, while it does reflect some of the attitudes of it's time it still captures human nature that is present even today. The restrictions placed on people by the class structure is clearly one of the under running themes as the more working class characters in the background get up to all sorts while the middle class main characters are expected to hold themselves to higher values. You can not also help but wonder if the film is an allegory for the situation homosexuals given Coward's sexuality and the laws of the time.
Probably the best part of the film is the subtle performances of the lead actors. I also think that the limitations placed on the film by the era it was produced in help make a better film as modern films on infidelity tend to become absorbed in the act rather than the circumstances and characters.
4/5
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