After a chance meeting on a train platform, a married doctor (Trevor Howard) and a suburban housewife (Celia Johnson) begin a muted but passionate, and ultimately doomed, love affair. With its evocatively fog-enshrouded setting, swooning Rachmaninoff score, and pair of remarkable performances (Johnson was nominated for an Oscar), this film, directed by David Lean and based on Noël Coward’s play Still Life deftly explores the thrill, pain, and tenderness of an illicit romance, and has influenced many a cinematic brief encounter since its release.
BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
- High-definition digital transfer of the BFI National Archive’s 2008 restoration with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- Audio commentary from 2000 by film historian Bruce Eder
- Interview from 2012 with Noël Coward scholar Barry Day
- A Profile of “Brief Encounter,” a short documentary from 2000 on the making of the film
- David Lean: A Self Portrait, a 1971 television documentary on Lean’s career
- Trailer
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- PLUS: An essay by historian Kevin Brownlow
