A love story, between a doctor and a housewife who are neither particularly good-looking, nor young- both are married and with children. They meet in a railway station's café and, enjoying each other's company, they agree to meet every Thursday, but soon find out that their innocent and casual relationship turns into something much stronger, and deeper. Brief Encounter has been chosen by Time as the best romantic film ever made and it's not difficult to see why, though the couple don't consummate their relationship, because the film focuses on the tension and struggle in Laura's mind, on the conflicting feelings of passion, longing, happiness and guilt, degradation. There are several wonderful scenes in the film, but the most moving one is perhaps the farewell, the most retrained of farewells ever- for the good of everybody, Laura and Alec know they must part and therefore try to enjoy their last moments together, but their last precious minutes are interrupted by a garrulous friend and their farewell can only be a soft shoulder squeeze.
Beautiful film by David Lean. This is the film that has inspired The Apartment, according to Billy Wilder himself.
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My 5 favourite love stories in cinema:
Casablanca (1942)
The Apartment (1960)
Brief Encounter (1945)
Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
Waterloo Bridge (1940)
I wonder if you'd include Singin' in the Rain as a romantic film.
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