A very simple yet potent romance, I like the short runtime as it adds to the effect of their encounter truly being so brief. Maybe I just like this movie a lot because I romanticize every girl I see passing in traffic or on the train, but I truly think this movie represents a feeling many people share.

Can't believe I've never seen before. So well-acted, with just one look the leads tell an entire story. Watched it because David Lean was the director (we had recently seen Bridge on the River Kwai).

Well acted and directed, sweet and melancholic. A beautiful arch type for the-one-that-got-away natives.

Good story, interesting characters. I especially enjoyed the scenes of 1940s England. I hadn't realized Boots was originally a bookstore.

Brief Encounter is a film that utilizes sure handed direction and perfect performances to engagingly animate a dark and dryly hilarious script. Melodramatic, intriguing, charged with chemistry and propelled forward by immaculate editing, the film is an immensely entertaining look at the complexities of romantic love, from a woman's point of view. Our heroin, or perhaps anti-heroine, is fascinatingly rendered, and her relatable motivations and failures play out against a cast of equally fascinating side characters, who's parts are very beautifully written and performed. The film is able to, with a very small and simple story, elicit thoughts about society, monogamy, ethics, morals, lust, manipulation, and trust. Beautiful to look at, with a pitch perfect score, Brief Encounter is the kind of film that made me lean forward in my chair while watching, and cackle and slap my lap, and then feel really sad. It's a ride. I liked it.

Has to be in the top 3 British movies of all time. The story is a masterpiece in emotional supression, what might have been, what they really wanted to say and do. Both main roles are superbly underplayed by Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard respectively, but you know I think the real hero of the story is Fred - watch it and perhaps you will catch my drift. Incidentally, the action takes place around a railway station platform cafe, which is actually Carnforth Railway Station, and there is now a cafe and museum there where you can re-live the film. (They also do an excellent bacon and egg roll.)

An absolute classic. Makes me nostalgic for a time before my time. Very British, when British was still a thing. Stoic characters, atmospheric railway stations, romantic without gushing, moving , engrossing and quietly brilliant .

'Brief Encounter' is a captivating 1945 romance film directed by David Lean. Set in post-war England, it follows Laura and Alec, two strangers who meet at a railway station and instantly connect. As they continue to meet in secret, their undeniable chemistry intensifies, despite the societal constraints and moral obligations that threaten to keep them apart. Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard deliver remarkable performances, making their characters' love both heartwarming and heart-wrenching. Adapted from Noel Coward's play, the screenplay weaves poignant dialogues and emotional monologues throughout the narrative. Lean's direction, coupled with stunning black-and-white cinematography, elevates the film into a timeless and profound exploration of love and human emotions. 'Brief Encounter' is an enthralling masterpiece that will leave viewers deeply moved and engaged in the complexities of love and sacrifice.

Low key, bittersweet would be romance by people who know their relationship is doomed from the start. I like the nicely understated performances, and it was gratifying to see actors that are older, frumpier and not glamorous Hollywood types, That helps add to the realism and poignancy.

Quietly devastating and dignified.

Brief Encounter was excellent. The cinematic elements of the film deserved an Oscar!

The story is not unique but the way it is presented is beyond spectacular.

This is quite a daydreamy type film. It seemed like I was listening to someone read their diary (journal) aloud. It's a bit slow in terms of plot pace but to be fair it's certainly somewhat immersive/atmospheric. I thought it had a nice use of orchestral music, which adds to the atmosphere. As a bit of escapism, its good and I enjoyed it overall - indeed I found myself rooting for the main female character, wondering what would happen next and if things would work out between them so yes, I'd recommend it.

Splendidly written. Trevor Harvard's acting is great. Celia Johnson is a bit too melodramatic at times. Even if they were just reading lines, the writing is so great that the movie would be worth it.

Watching this for the first time you think you have been transported to an alternative universe a million years ago, and that the characters are makg a fuss about nothing. The you start to understand the quality and depth of the script, the acting and the story. I had not watched it for years, then did one afternoon and felt compelled to watch it again immediately. I now think it might be the greatest film ever made. The breadth of meaning is vast, which would be a ridiculous claim if the quality of words, acting and scope were not so supremely high. The England it depicts has completely and utterly disappeared, so all we are left with is what in it is universal and timeless. It is a superb account of the shared sufferings of human beings, even when they are living calm, peaceful and relatively prosperous lives. It is sympathetic to every character, yet depicts acute suffering amongst those who feel they have no right to feel any sorrow of any kind. So English of an old fashioned kind. It is a masterpiece. Coward's script s pure Coward, so much so that it occasionally sounds like a parody of his rhetorical style, but ultimately it works perfectly. I don't know how such a now historically, technically and socially distant film can be so affecting and seem so relevant, but it does. It is also beautifully photographed and gives us a wonderful glimpse into the world of our grandparents that really existed. Top top film that makes the vast majority of the financial behemoths of our day seem like a pile of rotten rubbish. I actually love the way they used to speak. Nowadays people sound like inarticulate ignorant idiots, as if to boast about their worthiness, whereas then they spoke well out of respect for others. Great film. Persevere and understand it because it is worth it.

While it might not be on the level of Lawrence Of Arabia or The Bridge On The River Kwai in terms of film history, Brief Encounter is a clear display of supreme confidence and talent from legendary director David Lean. A remarkably simple story of 2 souls crossing paths and becoming permanently intertwined, it throws up issues regarding class, social standing and what it means to truly love a person for who they are, regardless of their background. Celia Johnson, in possession of one of cinemas most expressive faces, relates a story, supposedly to her husband but more to herself, which she could have told entirely without saying a single world; her face tells us everything we need to know. Trevor Howard makes a perfect companion, playing a man far more sure of what he wants, while also being at the mercy of his feelings, which he wears completely on his sleeve. I feel like their falling in love happens to quickly and too soon, and that a little bit more of a build up would have made it more convincing. But when they profess their love for one another you really feel it, and it's not hard to believe that they would have given up their ways of life for each other, even if it would have been scandalous all those decades ago. It's a very talky film, and the dialogue is often so fast that you might struggle to understand what's just been said. Despite these niggles, Brief Encounter is a classic of British cinema for a reason, and just one of many influential projects in David Lean's enviable filmography.

Absolute masterpiece and classic. The acting is superb. This is what cinema truly should be.

I think I would have liked this movie better if it had unfolded in a linear fashion instead of through flashbacks with excessive narration. I know, who am I to question Noel Coward? Hey, I like what I like.

i am certainly no film critic, but i love this movie. it has been one of my favorites since i first saw it, many years ago.

You might associate David Lean with great cinematic epics but this film, Brief Encounter, is epic in its own way. In the film Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard, neither overly beautiful or glamorous, live quiet, satisfying, expected lives until they meet by chance on their commute in a train station cafe. There are no grand, over the top gestures - just a quiet, believable friendship that in becoming naturally deeper catches its players offguard. Unlike other stories of the genre and time, Brief Encounter doesn't judge its lovers. There are no evil consequences for finding something beautiful with someone who isn't their spouce, only the heartbreaking consequences of it happening to those mindful of their "duty" and (unfortunately?) overly cautious in following their heart. The lovers' only doom is to returning to their previously satisfying loves and lives. We all have given up something and look back on it with regret and Brief Encounter shines a light on that inner corner of each of us. The performances are beautfiul, real, and worthy of such an epic of the soul. An under appreciated classic!