Brief Encounter

By Richard Dyer

Brief Encounter (1945), adapted from Noel Coward's play Still Life, is a classic of British cinema - a tale of impossible love between a married woman and a man she meets while waiting for a train. Though it's a film made by men, it is the woman's voice we hear recounting the story of a small-town love affair and her renunciation of it.

In his lucid analysis of the film, Richard Dyer explores how its depiction of powerful feelings kept under wraps is a definitive example of a particularly English style of emotional restraint, but also how it spoke to a gay audience for whom this subject - forbidden love between ordinary people - had a special resonance.

This reissued edition features original cover artwork by Rania Moudaress and a substantial new foreword that revisits the film and recent readings of it, covering its enduring legacy and adaptation for theatre and television.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1844578771
• ISBN13: 9781844578771
• Release Date: November 2015
• Publisher: British Film Institute
• Length: 80 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 5.3" x 7.3"