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This Classic Film is the Most Romantic Movie You’ve Probably Never Seen
Why Noël Coward’s Brief Encounter’s simple story is so compelling
It’s a British film, over 75 years old, in black and white, and has no major stars, so why does Brief Encounter so often show up on lists of the most romantic movies ever made and the greatest films ever made? Here’s my take on it.
The talent behind the film is extraordinary
English playwright and composer Sir Noël Coward produced and contributed to the screenplay for Brief Encounter. Coward based it on his 1936 one-act play Still Life.
Noël Coward was one of the most celebrated and versatile artists of the 20th century. In addition to writing the enduringly popular plays Hay Fever, Private Lives, Design for Living, Present Laughter, and Blithe Spirit, Coward was an actor, singer, director, and cabaret performer.
David Lean, who received a Best Director Academy Award nomination for the film in 1947, would be nominated an additional six times, winning for The Bridge on the River Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia.
