Movies Under the Stars

BRIEF ENCOUNTER (1945)

Film Screening
Black and white

An NCPA & Film Heritage Foundation Presentation

The 1945 British drama pivots on the subject of forbidden love against the strictures of suburban British life. The film, based on Noël Coward’s play Still Life, was one of director David Lean’s first great successes. The protagonist is Laura (Celia Johnson), a married woman with children, whose conventional life becomes increasingly complicated after a chance meeting at a railway station with a married stranger (Trevor Howard) with whom she subsequently falls in love. With its evocatively fog-enshrouded settings, swooning Rachmaninoff score, and pair of remarkable performances (Johnson was nominated for an Oscar), David Lean’s emotionally fraught film explores with great sensitivity the thrill, pain, and tenderness of an illicit romance and carefully handles the rising tension over whether the relationship would turn physical. Brief Encounter has influenced many a cinematic brief encounter since its release.

Director – David Lean
Cast – Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard, Stanley Holloway, Joyce Carey
Screenplay – Noël Coward
Cinematography – Robert Krasker

Admission on a first-come-first-served basis. NCPA Members will get preferential seating till 6.20pm.