433 Doctor Zhivago (1965)

Running Time: 197 minutes
Directed By: David Lean
Written By: Robert Bolt, from novel by Boris Pasternak
Main Cast: Omar Sharif, Julie Christie, Rod Steiger, Alec Guinness, Geraldine Chaplin
Click here to view the trailer

Note: Have I mentioned I've recently developed a fondness for thrift shops? My wife and I frequent a decent sized thrift shop in Morgantown, WV - home of WVU and the Mountaineers (Go 'Eers!) and I've taken to traveling there once a month or so and stocking up on paperbacks (which recently went from a buck a bag to a dime a piece). I own a Kindle and all, but I just love perusing through bin after bin of paperbacks, picking some up simply because they LOOK good, knowing nothing about them. Anyway, I snapped a picture of a little gem I found there this past week. I didn't buy it because I already have it on my computer and I don't have a great working VCR, but a few years back I'd have been ALL OVER THIS!

RIP OMAR SHARIF: 1932 - 2015

Omar Sharif passed away a few weeks ago and as soon as I saw his picture on my USA Today news feed, I immediately recalled one summer when me and my wife sat down to take in "Zhivago". More on that story later...

"Zhivago" is one of those "sweeping epics" that clocks in at about three hours and ten minutes and covers a lot of ground during it runtime. The film is told entirely in flashback, starting with a young Yuri Zhivago, who is orphaned when his mother dies, when he's very young. Yuri goes to live with his mother's best friend, her husband and their daughter, Tonya. Grown up, Zhivago (Sharif) now has aspirations of being a general practitioner and later, becomes engaged to Tonya, whom he fell in love after all those years. Meanwhile, there's also Lara Antipov (Christie), who's boyfriend is Pasha, a revolutionary. Later, V.I. Komarovsky (Steiger), a well connected Russian, takes an interest in Lara and later rapes her, making her his girlfriend. This revelation leaves Lara's mother stunned, since she had hopes of marrying Komarovsky herself and she tries to kill herself. This is when Zhivago and Lara first lay eyes on each other - Zhivago assisting the doctor, who rushes to Lara's mother's aid. Eventually war breaks out and Zhivago & his family are forced out of their house. It's around this time that Zhivago meets his brother, General Yevgraf Zhivago (Guinness), who instructs Zhivago and family to flee to Gromeko, where they'll be far away from trouble and the new shift in power. Zhivago obliges and one day, while at the library, notices Lara. The two begin an affair...I feel like that's plenty to get you started, as there's just so much ground to cover here and I could go on for days, plot summary wise.

I'll never forget my first apartment. No one will, right? The one thing I really remember about my our first apartment ("our" as in, me and my wife, of course) is that it was dreadfully hot. We moved in on June 24, 2007 and the place wasn't air conditioned. Despite the fact that I hate the heat, I loved literally everything else about the apartment, not to mention the experience of being a newlywed, going grocery shopping for myself for the first time, decorating OUR OWN PLACE, it was all so wonderful. Anyway - I'm rambling. During that summer of 2007, my wife and I made a decision one day to start chipping away at the IMDB Top 250 list. We printed it and decided to go from 250 to 1, watching in order. Dr. Zhivago was something like #247. It was a miserably hot, August day and we had rented Dr. Zhivago from the library and decided to spend a Sunday off taking it in. We weren't particularly excited to see it, but really, we didn't know what to expect. Long story short, we hated it. It became that movie that we'd always reference whenever we saw a long or boring or just plain bad movie - "Hey, at least it's no Zhivago" or "It could be worse, remember Zhivago?". It was THAT movie for us, for so long. In fact, when I first bought THE BOOK and made the decision to watch my way through it, one of my "do I really wanna do this" moments came when I realized that I'd have to watch "Dr. Z" again. Perhaps it was the heat that got to us that hot, August day, but it just goes to show you, this is why you always give a bad movie one more chance to impress.

Yes, this time I actually really enjoyed Dr. Zhivago. It surprised me even more considering last week, I watched Lawrence of Arabia to my utter disdain and that the two movies were directed by Lean. To say I dreaded Zhivago going in, would be a gross understatement. However, I still went in with an open mind and it was once again the photography of Freddie Young which got me to dip a toe in. Before long I was doing dog paddles in the cinematic sea that is Dr. Zhivago! Sure, I wouldn't go so far as to call it perfect (not yet), as the history stuff still threw me (in case you're new, my attention to films about history that I'm unfamiliar with....well, it isn't good), but all in all, I'd call it a VAST improvement over my initial impressions. No longer can I or will I reference "Zhivago" when trying to find an adjective to describe a bad film. Perhaps when trying to describe a beautiful film? "Well, the photography was great, but it was no Dr. Z!".

It's funny, because as I was checking into this movie on the various sites I frequent (IMDB, iCheckmovies, etc.), I noticed a lot of people saying that this was tougher to endure than "Lawrence". I found my opinion to be the exact opposite. This was a cinch to tackle, especially compared to the almost impossible to get through Lawrence of Arabia. While "Lawrence" is one that nearly required toothpicks to hold up the eyelids, "Zhivago" is one where I was hesitant to blink, for fear that I'd miss the next breathtaking frame a la Freddie Young. Or perhaps I'd miss yet another cheesecake shot of Julie Christie, her beautiful blue eyes, her luxurious blonde hair framing her face perfectly. I think I'd have to put Julie Christie in the TOP 5 on a list of "Actresses who I barely knew going into THE BOOK, but now LOVE!". The whole cast was really fine, from Sharif to Courtenay, but one that I'd have to point out particularly would be Rod Steiger. It's baffling to me how good he is and I sincerely want to see the rest of his filmography sooner, rather than later. To think that Komarovsky and Sgt. Gillespie ("In the Heat of the Night") are THE SAME PERSON is just unbelievable to me. There are literally no traces of one, in the other. In fact, even though I KNEW that Steiger played alongside Sidney Poitier in In the Heat of the Night, I actually questioned that fact as I watched him perform in Dr. Zhivago. It takes fine actor to completely eliminate any previously seen roles from the audiences mind and put on an entirely NEW show, no reminisces of their former selves.

Anyway, I'll wrap by preaching, once again, to please always give movies two chances. A movie you hated yesterday, may one day become your favorite (and vice versa, really). Thanks to THE BOOK, I've come to see the greatness in movies like Dr. Zhivago and Requiem for a Dream, two movies I once hated, did complete 180's on and now love. It's a beautiful film, with a gorgeous leading lady and a fine cast all around, all, I think, fully aware that they're in something that's going to make big bucks and win big awards, therefore all are ready to turn in performances that will get them recognized. And even though David Lean and I didn't see eye to eye, as I watched my way through THE BOOK, it was Dr. Zhivago that made me wish Hollywood had more directors like Lean. David Lean is someone who you can see REALLY cared about the movies he put out. He wanted to make the best picture possible, using all of his natural abilities, send the audience home happy. The word "grandeur" comes to mind. It's talents like David Lean who make me wish there really was a fountain of youth. We could really use Lean (with photographers like Freddie Young by his side) to continue telling stories that shaped the history of the world - to tell us about revolutions and uprisings, downfalls and tragedies, world changing events and life altering tales. Despite never giving one of his films a rating higher than an '8', I still look forward to seeing the rest of Lean's filmography and I'll go on wishing that more director's like him come along, wishing that more director's like him would have never gone...

RATING: 7/10  WOW, that was a lot of writing and a lot of praise for a simple '7', but bear with me. The film went from a '1' to a '7' in one viewing, so that's actually a huge improvement.

MOVIES WATCHED: 938
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 63

July 23, 2015  5:35pm

387. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

Running Time: 216 minutes
Directed By: David Lean
Written By: Robert Bolt, from memoir by T.E. Lawrence
Main Cast: Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, Jack Hawkins, Omar Sharif
Click here to view the trailer

NOTE: Apparently I'm the worst person in the world to give a plug. Yesterday, after I plugged JD's 1001 Movies blog, I forgot to include a link. SO...click here to visit JD's page. Sorry about that...For future reference, I'll also be adding JD's page to the BlogRoll on the sidebar, where I've also recently added a Goodreads widget for anyone curious as to what yours truly is currently reading. Now then...

BLADE RUNNER ALL OVER AGAIN?

It's no secret that when I reviewed Blade Runner last month, I got crucified for my opinions. Okay, maybe that's too harsh a word, but certainly everyone who dropped by shared a different opinion than me. However, I defend my opinions and I'll continue to defend my opinions when/if the Lawrence of Arabia lovers come out to defend the epic. Read on...

I'm not even going to PRETEND to bullshit my way through a plot synopsis for "Lawrence", because, to tell you the truth, I was pretty lost past the ninety minute mark or so. All I can tell you is this: T.E. Lawrence (O'Toole) was a member of the British Army, who campaigned to be reassigned Arab Bureau, during World War I. He intends to speak with a Prince Faisal (Guinness) about aligning himself with the Arab nation against the Turks. There's a lot of desert wandering, a lot of "boy, it's hot out here" talk and a lot of history that I'm not familiar with. T.E. Lawrence eventually goes borderline mad, almost begging to be restationed, but always being assigned to return to the desert, due to his good rapport with Prince Faisal and his familiarity with the region. I was doing pretty good throughout the first ninety minutes, like I said, but the final two hours was me simply earning the tick and somewhat trying to stay interested, all the while knowing that this clearly wasn't my cup of tea. I find it familiar that my favorite David Lean picture is EASILY Brief Encounter, probably his shortest picture and easily his least grand, at least as far as what I've seen of his work.

I really don't know what else to say other than this was just downright boring to me. It felt like Lean was talking to a select group of moviegoers, the type of audience who also enjoyed getting extra homework when they were in school. At no point was there, as far as I'm concerned, an attempt to make this history lesson fun, entertaining or even, somewhat interesting. Sure, maybe it was interesting to you, but not to me - not in the slightest. When I popped in the DVD and saw a train blowing up on the DVD menu, I though, "Okay, well at least there's a train explosion - can't be all bad, right?" WRONG!

If you put a gun to my head right now and forced me to pick something out that I liked, it wouldn't be a hard choice. The sole reason that this movie will get any points in my rating column, falls on the shoulders of Freddie Young - the film's cinematographer. In the words of Christopher Walken, "WOW! Wowie wow wow wow!". You could've picked up the remote and randomly hit the pause button throughout and anywhere you stopped, you'd have stopped on a breathtaking shot. He's also the man who shot Doctor Zhivago, which I'll be watching soon, so at least I have that to look forward to. What I don't look forward to, is another David Lean epic. I think we've established by now that I just don't like Lean's brand of storytelling, stretching mildly interesting affairs, into three plus hour ordeals. I will say, this is easily the worst Lean I've seen, with Bridge on the River Kwai at least having some interesting bits and main event ending and A Passage to India being solid throughout. By all means, see this and form your own opinions, but you have been warned.

Bring on the ridicule for my taste in film....

RATING: 3.5/10  I'm just glad it's over. Seriously, if you disagree with me, let me know and tell me why I'm so ignorant. What'd I miss? Now if you'll excuse me, I have a Dairy Queen chicken strip basket to prepare for!

MOVIES WATCHED: 935
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 66

July 15, 2015  5:11pm

717. A Passage to India (1984)

Running Time: 163 minutes
Directed By: David Lean
Written By: David Lean, from novel by E.M. Forster
Main Cast: Judy Davis, Peggy Ashcroft, Victor Banerjee, James Fox, Alec Guinness
Click here to view the trailer

BACK TO INDIA

Here I am, once again, having to be up in about six hours and swinging in first to write a review, ensuring that I'll only bank about five hours of sleep. Oh well - taking one for the team, I guess. Random thought of the night: What's with the name Banerjee in India? Is it like the name Smith in the states? Anyway...read on...

I started watching this on Wednesday night, while my wife was getting her weekly Survivor fix. When her show was over, however, I stopped to hang out with her, with plans to finish today - which I did. I have to say the first hour was doing nothing for me, while things definitely started to pick up when I continued today. The film stars Judy Davis as Adela Quested and Peggy Ashcroft as Mrs. Moore, two ladies who are traveling to India to visit the same man - Ronny Heaslop, a Brit who is the acting magistrate in the Indian town the girls are visiting; the latter's son and the former's fiance. Once there, it becomes apparent to the ladies that their fiance and son respectively has grown quite prejudiced toward the natives. Meanwhile, Mrs. Moore and Ms. Quested meet an Indian doctor named Aziz Ahmed (Banerjee), whom they take quite the shine to. There's also a school superintendent named Richard Fielding (Fox) who serves to introduce the two sides. The group gets along fine, but it's Heaslop who objects to (especially) his fiance's seeing of the Indian man. Later, the girls express an interest in wanting to see the Marabar Caves and a date is set for Ms. Quested, Mrs. Moore and Dr. Ahmed to have an outing to see the caves. While touring the caves, Mrs. Moore becomes claustrophobic while inside and decides to leave to sit down. From there, Aziz and Adela decide to climb the mountain and see the caves that are higher up. While away (alone), Aziz steps away for a cigarette and Adela gets lost inside one of the caves. A mixture of heat exhaustion and claustrophobia, not to mention the mind numbing echo from the mountains, sends Adela into a hallucination, sending her running down the mountain with accusations of rape toward Dr. Ahmed.

SPOILER ALERT!

Kind of odd, this one was as it had every right to be as long as it was, except it was too long in some parts and not long enough in others. Like I said, the entire first hour left me almost completely unenthralled and ready to give this film quite the low rating. It seemed to drag on for that full first hour with really not a lot to offer. It wasn't until we get into the expedition to the caves and the accusations of rape that things really start to take a turn toward the interesting, but by then, we're in the home stretch, which just seemed way too rushed. I would have personally liked to have seen them take about twenty - thirty minutes from the first hour and inject it into the final forty five minutes, so that we could get a little more closure to everyone's situation. I don't often agree with the thoughts, ideas and theories written in THE BOOK, however, I think they nailed it on the head this time - and I quote, "It's not as forceful or thought provoking a conclusion as it could (or should) have been...". From that, I gather that the ending was unsatisfying for not just yours truly. I just didn't understand, first the motivations of the Ms. Quested character and later, the motivations of Dr. Aziz. First with Quested, why accuse someone (someone who you've befriended) of rape for absolutely no reason? Are we to believe that the heat and the tight space & echoes of the cave suddenly turned her into a falsely accusing, life wrecker? I just don't buy that. From there, we're meant to believe that the people around her have coached her into thinking a certain way, except she never showed the personality traits of being someone who was easily swayed prior to the incident. And then, all of a sudden, while being questioned in court, she withdrawals her statements! WHAT?! From there, Dr. Ahmed, the film's hero and main "good guy", suddenly turns into a big jerk and basically tells Fielding where to go - the man who just took committed societal suicide on behalf of his Indian friend! WTF?

Here, more than with any other film, I get the feeling that the book is better than the movie. I feel like certain things were left out, leaving us to ponder way more than we should be pondering. I actually liked the movie fairly well, but was let down by the rushed and improper ending and felt that more explanations to the characters actions, as well as some more general closure could've gone a long way in tying up some loose ends and left me a much happier movie goer. Add to that the chopped down first half and this film had serious potential to be a big favorite of mine. As it is, I can only say I liked it, at best and leave it at that. The acting was fine (of course, because a lot of the cast is English and they invented acting) and at times, the cinematography is jaw dropping (hence why I just had to include four stills from the movie within this review). You also have David Lean at the helm, proving that even at seventy something years old, he could still hammer out an epic, worthy of multiple award noms. The only cast choice I had a problem with was Guinness, who was basically wasted, being dressed up as an Indian and playing nothing more than a supporting character. I guess if I had to complain about any other cast member, it would be Judy Davis. The woman did a fine job, it's just that I never expect to see her in anything but Woody Allen movies and I'm sorry, but I take my Judy Davis with a potty mouth, thank you very much!

RATING: 6.5/10  This was a roller coaster, as it started out getting a low rating, then turned around to earn back a lot of points, only to ultimately lose them to the okay but less than desirable ending.

MOVIES WATCHED: 865
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 136

October 30, 2014  11:11pm

324. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

Running Time: 161 minutes
Directed By: David Lean
Written By: Carl Foreman, Michael Wilson, from the novel Le pont de la riviere Kwai by Pierre Boulle
Main Cast: William Holden, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Sessue Hayakawa, James Donald
Click here to view the trailer

GOOD SHOW?

When I put up that "17 Hours" post the other day, giving a peek at three very long films that I plan to watch soon, I could've just called it "20 hours" and included "The Bridge on the River Kwai" as part of that batch. But what's done is done and more importantly, "The Bridge on the River Kwai" is done!

The film takes place during World War II and our focal point is a Japanese POW camp, where, when we first get into the thick of things, a company of British soldiers are being hauled in. Whistling "The Colonel Bogey March" (see "The Breakfast Club"), they line up and are given their orders. The main orders that they'll receive, via Colonel Saito (Hayakawa) is that they'll be put to work building a bridge over the River Kwai. The bridge will be able to accommodate a set of railroad tracks, opening up Japan's war resources. Lt. Col. Nicholson (Guinness) has no problem with Saito putting the soldiers to work, but refuses to allow him to put the officers to work. Citing the Geneva Convention, he notes that it is illegal for any officers to be forced to do manual labor. For his insubordination, Nicholson is locked up outside, in a hot box, until he has a change of heart. However, the change of heart never comes and when Saito gets desperate enough (he has to have the bridge built by May 12 and it's already March. Failure to complete the bridge and he'd have no other choice but to commit ritual suicide) he lets Nicholson out and agrees not to make him work, but simply supervise. Meanwhile, US Navy Commander Shears (Holden) has escaped the POW camp and found refuge at a nearby village, of which the villagers help him escape via boat. He is then picked up by members of his own forces and is sent to recover at a hospital. During recovery, he is visited by Major Warden (Hawkins), who asks Shears to return to the site of the POW camp, so that he may help them blow up the bridge that is being constructed. Shears, of course, has reservations.

SPOILER ALERT!!

Man, was this movie rough to get through. I'd seen BOTRK once before and remembered liking it mildly, so I wasn't that concerned with giving it another go for the sake of THE BOOK. But man, this time around something went South and in a hurry. The premise of the film isn't bad. You've got a determined Lieutenant Colonel, who is refusing to work and an arrogant, yet likable troublemaker who wants to escape. For a while, however, I wasn't sure who we were supposed to be cheering for and who was supposed to be the heel. I mean, of course, the Japanese were the heels, but what about Nicholson (even in the beginning). Here you had a guy who was refusing to work, even though he had no trouble having his men serve Col. Saito's purposes. So, wanting to be a big cry baby about the whole thing, he gets locked up in a little tin box, outside in the sweltering heat and I can't say he didn't deserve it. So we spend like an hour of screen time (maybe more) with Nicholson - he's in the box, he's pulled out and talked to but he refuses, so he's back in the box and then Saito finally can't take it anymore so he gives in. Really!! That took an hour?? I've got to say this film managed their time incredibly poorly and no wonder the damn thing was nearly three hours, as they took forever to get certain points across. Had they trimmed this down some and gotten it to flow a little smoother, this could've been a lot better. I'm not saying it was ever going to blow me out of the water because, what can I say, I was never going to get that excited about the construction of a bridge. Something about that just doesn't light a fire under me. And, of course, you've got the whole "Look at what war drives a man to" storyline, but that doesn't get developed until the second act and when Nicholson's great lengths are finally cemented, it's nearly time for the end.

Now then, the end? Now that's some exciting movie making. You've got all sorts of incredible things happening onscreen and what do they do? The one time the movie actually gets things moving along too fast!! But really, it is some good stuff. You've got the Nicholson finally coming to his senses, Joyce manning up and killing Saito and of course, the blowing up of the bridge!! Also the whole piece with Nicholson seeing the detonation wires is pretty gripping stuff. But really, that was the whole movie for me, at least the good stuff. I wasn't crazy about Holden here. Come to think of it, I wasn't crazy about Holden in anything I've watched of his via THE BOOK. Now "Stalag 17" - there's a Holden flick. Guinness was pretty spot on here, I'll give them that, but it wasn't enough and ultimately the ending only served to be too little, too late for this film to win me over. Ultimately, this is one bridge I'd rather not cross again.

RATING: 4/10  I'll give it some points and it certainly wasn't the worst thing I've watched this season, but it was a rough one to get through. By the by, I'll be starting "Shoah" as my next movie and since it's nine hours long, you may not see me for a few days. See ya when I see ya.

MOVIES WATCHED: 649
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 352

March 29, 2013  5:54pm

192. Great Expectations (1946)

Running Time: 118 minutes
Directed By: David Lean
Written By: Anthony Havelock-Allan, David Lean, Ronald Neame, from novel by Charles Dickens
Main Cast: John Mills, Jean Simmons, Valerie Hobson, Martita Hunt, Alec Guinness

GREAT EXPECTATIONS? NOT WHAT I HAD FOR THIS FILM, BUT I WAS PLEASANTLY SURPRISED

I know, I know...This isn't a work by Federico Fellini, but I figured I could squeeze a few non-Fellini films into this week as well. Before I begin my review I want to make the admission that I have NEVER read the Dickens novel of which this film is based upon, nor have I seen any of the over 250 adaptations for "Great Expectations", so anything I say is purely based on this particular David Lean adaptation, as I went in very ignorant to the plot of GE.

"Great Expectations" is based around it's central character Pip and follows him from his early memory of smuggling food and a file to an escaped convict, Magwitch, to being summoned to the home of Miss Havisham so that he may play and mingle with the "boy-hater" Estella and finally we follow Pip as he is taken to London per the orders of a secret benefactor, where he will become a gentleman...one with great expectations. We meet a smattering of characters along the way, some delightful, others just interesting, from Pip's very moody older sister and her husband Joe, to Pip's guardian in London Mr. Jaggers' to the very joyful and quaint Herbert Pocket.

The first thing that really impressed me about "Great Expectations" is the fact that for a novel written in the 1800s and a film made in the 1940s it still holds up really well and doesn't seemed to have aged, as it is still as enjoyable today, as I'm sure it was back in 1946. I thought everyone turned in really good performances, but I was especially fond of Alec Guinness' Herbert Pocket, John Mills' Pip and Jean Simmons' Estella. Jean Simmons was radiant on the screen and makes me long to see more of her movies, where she is a bit older, with possibly more refined acting skills and not on the cusp of womanhood. I loved the voice over effect, as I'm really a sucker for that. It's such a small, almost-insignificant thing that I just think can really add to a story and make it seem much more meaningful and deep. The movie did, however, drag just a smidgen and only in certain spots and I think there were a few scenes that could've been trimmed out to make the film flow along at a much smoother pace, such as some of the earlier Miss Havisham scenes and the scenes with Drummle, a man that Estella is leading on, yet eventually marries.

One scene that I'll make mention of real quick, simply so that I can look back at this review and remember it and so that you may watch the movie and keep an eye out for it, is the scene where Pip goes to visit Mr. Wemmick and we in turn meet Mr. Wemmick's father, a seemingly senile old man who's only joy in life is being nodded at in agreement. Such an amusing scene that really made me and my wife giggle and such a breath of fresh air, during a point in the movie where a lot of dread is occurring...Estella telling Pip that she plans to marry, Pip being informed that an enemy is in town, etc.

RATING: 6.5/10 At the end of September I plan to post a list of all the films I've watched this month and their respective revised ratings (or their rating after a few days of reflection). Possibly Great Expectations' rating will rise.

MOVIES WATCHED: 148
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 853

September 21, 2010 9:41pm

183. Brief Encounter (1946)

Running Time: 86 minutes
Directed By: David Lean
Written By: Anthony Havelock-Allan, David Lean, from the play Still Life by Noel Coward
Main Cast: Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard, Stanley Holloway, Joyce Carey

ON MY JOURNEY I MET A MAN NAMED 'LEAN'

When I think of David Lean, I think of epic films like "Doctor Zhivago" or "Lawrence of Arabia" (two films that appear later on in the 1001 book). However, from now on when I think of David Lean, I'll certainly not forget to remember "Brief Encounter", the film that I took in tonight and one that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Laura Jesson (Johnson) is a suburban housewife, who's life doesn't have too much excitement outside of her weekly Thursday trips to Milford, her neighboring town, for which she takes a train to go to the grocer's, have lunch and catch a movie. On one particular Thursday, while standing on the platform awaiting her train, Laura gets some debris in her eye. Rushing back into the station's refreshment room, she asks for a glass of water to bathe her eye, but instead gets the kind help of a stranger, a doctor who happens to be in the room and helps her cure her eye problem. She thanks him and leaves and the next Thursday runs into him again as he is on his way to the hospital and she on her way to the grocer's. The following Thursday, they meet again, in a crowded restaurant that they've both chosen for lunch, and due to the overwhelming crowd, Laura extends her one person table to the doctor, who introduces himself as Alec (Howard), a married, general practitioner. The chit chat, make inside jokes about the band that's playing at the restaurant and eventually decide to take in a movie together that afternoon.

They continue to meet every Thursday, engaging in various different activities, such as going to the pictures, going for walks, taking boat rides and just talking. They soon realize that despite their marriages, they have unavoidably fallen in love with one another. Laura begins to lie to her husband, telling him that she was with female friends of hers, and then calling the female friends to arrange alibis. On another Thursday, Alec borrows a car from a colleague, Stephen, and the two take a drive through the country, returning back to the city and Stephen's flat. Alec offers Laura the chance to join him in his colleagues' flat and at first she declines, only to return back to the apartment. Nothing ends up happening, as Stephen returns home and Laura is forced out the back way, leaving her to miss her train and forcing her to call her husband and make up yet another lie. This event forces the twosome to realize that their love can never be and in not wanting to disturb either persons' family, Alec decides to take a job that has been offered to him in South Africa.

I've mentioned before that I'm a sucker for prison movies, well you can also mark me down as being a sucker for movies told in flashback. I don't know what it is about that element of storytelling, but it almost always appeals to me and "Brief Encounter" is no exception. In this films case, I particularly love the way that the entire movie is told from the perspective of Laura, as if she were confessing the entire, sordid affair to her husband, a character that deserves sympathy but gets none here, because the affair and love that is developing is so fairy tale-esque. Aside from the fine acting performances, I also enjoyed the use of the camera, lighting and music, as Piano Concerto No. 2 was a perfect selection and the shadows on the wall as Laura and Alec round a corner at the train station, are two unforgettable elements about the entire picture. If I had to nitpick about anything at all, I would say that the scene where Alec and Stephen have a brief conversation is totally out of place, especially seeing as how everything is from the P.O.V. of Laura and Laura wasn't present for the conversation in question.

This movie is a great piece of storytelling, as the entire premise is so fantastical that it's easy to get caught up in it. This is what movies are all about, when you can totally let go and find yourself standing on a train station platform, the wind of a speeding train blowing against your face and witnessing a great love affair unfold before your eyes. In fact, I think that if any picture can really define the word "movie", then this would be the one and this would also be a prime candidate to show to someone who doesn't appreciate the art of black & white cinema.

RATING: 7/10 Wow, you'd think after all that praise, I would've went a little higher. No, a '7' seems like a good choice, but don't get me wrong this is a great film.

MOVIES WATCHED: 144
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 857

September 14, 2010 3:45am