Brief Encounter- the film

Glad to hear the cafe is still going and is good...funnily enough I was looking through some old photos this week and found a few I took on a trip there about 20 years ago (time flies!)

Glad to hear the cafe is still going and is good...funnily enough I was looking through some old photos this week and found a few I took on a trip there about 20 years ago (time flies!)

I agree.Most people are not that lucky.

My friends are mostly unhappily married. They tolerate their husbands and none of them are having sex anymore, except for one of them. I don’t know any happy couples after about 20 years. They are living separate lives entirely and do the odd thing together. There is no love or passion there, it’s dead.

When at others homes i cant tell them to turn it off.

I think she was incredibly selfish and self-absorbed. How wonderful it must have been to be a wife and mother back then as it seemed she had an entire day to herself.

I'm guessing she would have given up work as was expected hence having time to herself whilst her son was in school.

"Oh Jerry, don't ask for the moon. We have stars."

A brilliant, emotional film (typical of my all time favourite actress, Bette Davis and what an incredible actress she was, even if she was prone to over acting 😉)

But yet, another film 'of its time'...an emotional affair that could never be truly fulfilled.

I love the sound of the The Enchanted Cottage...never heard of it but having googled, I shall keep my eye out for it. 😊

It's a masterpiece in understatement. Their unsatisfied passion, society's judgement (seen in his friend's reaction), her husband's brave gallantry ('thank you for coming back to me').
And that music, ahhhhhh.

Grrrr - one despairs of the “shocked at the past” crew.

Even if it’s - groan - in black and white and - grumble - they speak weird and -shriek - they don’t act like we do now - it’s a wonderful film, beautifully shot and with humour to offset the pathos. And the music….

I went on a pilgrimage to Carnforth Station last year - absolutely splendid cafe! (Dh arranged trip in secret: he obviously fears being Fred!!)

I too love This Happy Breed. Dm said it was just like her household. I saw a criticism saying it was “genteel slumming” - but I think that describes a lot of that part of society back then.

That's a very strange sounding pie

I’d forgotten that! My Mum learned to cook for a family in the early 1950’s so it was pretty grim. I still shudder at the thought of her boiled meat, potatoes and rhubarb pie.

i love it . I don’t have to approve of the main characters to appreciate films or books.

I love This Happy Breed, it’s my favourite film. Although to be fair , I love a lot of old British films. I do like Brief Encounter and as mentioned previously the parody by Victoria Wood is excellent.

2020s Britain, where "I don't like it" equates to "it's crap" rather than "it's not to my taste".

Anyway, I thought I remembered that the book on which the film was based was ambiguous about whether they DTD? Can anyone verify that?

I also loved butterflies. I clearly wasn't aimed at "us" but you could really feel her frustration at her family.

It's absolute heaven, I've watched it hundreds of times since I was a child, and I adore Celia Johnson. I do hate the ending though, they should have ended up together.

I was also growing up watching Butterflies. I think a lot of the more emotional stuff passed me by, but my mum was a dreadful cook like Ria so I empathised with the sons probably more than I should have!

I love it; it's a really beautiful film.

I was a child in the 70’s but I used to love ‘Butterflies’!

The depiction of a family with two big lads and an emotionally unavailable husband (perfectly played by Geoffrey Palmer) was fascinating to me. I was a bit of a weird kid!

Oh another for the Christmas moan 😀 it is such a dreary film

I can't dislike anything with James Stewart in it.

Yeah her son is so harsh to her, then reels her back in but she’s wary by that point. I watch it every year in the run up to Christmas and basically cry all the way through it.

Well I think it varied. I posted earlier about one set of unhappy grandparents. My other set couldn't have been more different. They eloped in 1922 when she was a teenager. They were very much in love and one thing I vividly remember is going to the graveyard with grandad to put flowers on granny's grave. Her headstone was like an open book with her details on one page, he'd point to the other page and say one day when he was back with her his details would be on the other page. It was clear that all he wanted was to be reunited with her. I can never imagine that they didn't love each other in almost fifty years of marriage and twelve babies.

Her family were scandalised at the marriage but they married for love and it lived up to their expectations. I don't think everyone is that lucky.

I absolutely love that film but it's pretty bleak! The bit where her son says something about how he knows that he's a very large part of her life, but she's not a big part of his makes me absolutely howl.

And her marriage is so unhappy (for her anyway) but she has no real option but to plod on. And I got the sense that her life after the war ended was going to be much smaller without much to look forward to.

I watched it too. I wasn't keen. It made me feel uncomfortable.

I think she was incredibly selfish and self-absorbed. How wonderful it must have been to be a wife and mother back then as it seemed she had an entire day to herself.

There is much symbolism of intimacy. The beautiful arched bridge with water flowing underneath, the steamy trains roaring by as they kissed.

He professed love very quickly. Did he love bomb her?
He was persistent and inviting her to the empty flat was a huge red flag. Her scarf left behind was symbolic of something being lost.

I made some notes as I watched it but they're on my laptop.

Absolutely adore BE. Just so understated and perfectly done.
also love IAWL simply because of jimmy Stewart.