Brief Encounter (David Lean)

[pro-bassoonist]

Brief Encounter Blu-ray
Brief Encounter Blu-ray Review



ITV-Granada are set to release David Lean's classic Brief Encounter (1945) on February 9th in the United Kingdom.

BBC:

Forget what you've heard. "Brief Encounter" is an extremely violent film. In fact, it is a violence that no Tarantino or Guy Ritchie could ever come close to. Celia Johnson, as its heroine, Laura, says as much herself: "I've fallen in love. I'm an ordinary woman. I didn't think such violent things could happen to ordinary people."

One of the first British films to have praise heaped on it abroad, it is shot in noirish black and white to the music of Rachmaninov. David Lean ably directed Noel Coward's script for this intensely passionate film in which almost nothing happens. In short, Laura gets a piece of grit in her eye (those beastly trains!) and falls desperately in love with the kind stranger (Trevor Howard) who removes it. Romance follows over a series of chance, then planned, meetings all given drama by the emphasis on their brevity.

It is told in flashback in an imaginary confession to her husband (Cyril Raymond) whom she dares not tell out of profound compassion. Without the insight her narration gives we would perhaps see nothing at all in the railway station buffet where both Stanley Holloway and Joyce Carey remind us of the invasive triviality of the everyday with a suspicious intimation that the lower classes have no emotional life.

If you can stomach this and the excruciatingly affected portrayal of the English middle classes, you'll have, at the very least, a lump in your throat. Less cynical souls will weep buckets.

Pro-B

[McCrutchy]

Any info on region coding?

Didn't ITV/Granada do Black Narcissus and Great Expectations on Blu? Those features were region-free (and bonuses in PAL).

[Midnightsailor]

Sweet.

[pro-bassoonist]

Originally Posted by McCrutchy

Any info on region coding?

Didn't ITV/Granada do Black Narcissus and Great Expectations on Blu? Those features were region-free (and bonuses in PAL).

Correct, they did. And their releases have been Region-Free. Some of the features on their discs are in PAL, others are in HD.

Pro-B

[WNind]

Fantastic. Probably my favourite old film. What surprised when I first watched it was how much humour there was in it. Truly a film you can fall in love with.

Any idea if it has had a restoration done on it? The copy I've got is in really quite rough shape with a really flickering and damaged source.

[pro-bassoonist]

Unfortunately, I don't have any preliminary info to share with you. Judging by ITV's treatments on <i>Black Narcissus</i> and <i>Great Expectations</i> we should be in for a treat

Pro-B

[WNind]

I've just done a bit of Googling and found this article on the BFI's website. Apparently Brief Encounter had a full restoration along with 11 other Lean films earlier this year as a joint effort between the BFI, Studio Canal & Granada. Looks like we are going to be in for a treat. How exciting.

[eChopper]

great news- for those who've never seen it , its a british Casablanca

[harry lime]

I have been itching to purchase this film on DVD for a couple of years now, but never did. However, this BD release is a definite pre-order. Especially after how great Black Narcissus was treated. Thanks for the heads up.

Wonderful news about the 11 David Lean titles. My mouth has been watering at the idea of Lawrence of Arabia on BD for a while now. Can't wait for Sony's inevitable release.

[pro-bassoonist]

http://www.bfi.org.uk/about/news/200...n-project.html

The David Lean Film Restoration

All film restorations require collaboration, but the David Lean Film Restoration Project partnership is a model for how this kind of collaboration can most profoundly affect film heritage.

The David Lean Foundation, whose resources come directly from the revenue the films of David Lean still generate, sponsored the restoration of eleven of the sixteen films that David Lean directed. The BFI undertook the technical side of the restoration of ten of these titles, working with Granada International and Studiocanal.

The BFI National Archive in Berkhamsted is now the permanent home of the preservation elements resulting from the restoration work. The restored films will be the basis of all distributed elements in the future, ensuring that every audience everywhere will see the restored version of each film.

The overall technical approach to the project, led by Andrea Kalas, Senior Preservation Manager of the Archive Film Lab, was to find the best surviving material on each title and restore and preserve each film using the best methods available. For 8 of the films this involved collaboration with Granada International's Perivale archive and working with the technical team headed by Fiona Maxwell, Director of Operations and Servicing. As quality considerations focus mainly on elements duplicated from an original, each element was inspected for quality and condition. Dirt and scratches can be printed in, and focus and fluctuation issues in the image can also occur. Condition issues can include signs of deterioration, mould, and most often the effects of usage.

Original camera negatives of many of the films were badly damaged: with scratches, frames missing, tears, even one important original negative entirely missing. Elements from both the BFI and Granada International archives were viewed and compared to find the best materials to work from.

The next stage was to decide how and where to complete the restoration which needed specialized equipment and expertise. Archival film is often fragile and in need of printers and scanners that have been optimized for this purpose, and the knowledge of the experts who are restoring the films is crucial. The ability to ensure that Guy Green's black and white cinematography is brought back to life with utmost care is the ability to understand how to effectively reproduce sharpness, contrast and the greyscale range. To ensure that the Blithe Spirit is a shade of green that looks ghostly and not cartoonish, requires an understanding of the Technicolor process and how to replicate that in modern film stocks.

The ten films were restored by one of three standard film restoration processes: Photochemical, Digital Sections and Full Digital Intermediate. Each film also had digital audio restoration. Although the Archive Film Lab at the BFI National Archive was the main facility for the restoration work, other film labs such as Cineric in New York were used for additional specialized work. Following the photo-chemical work, Granada International remastered their films to High Definition with full digital picture and sound restoration.

Pro-B

[mx2004]

Great article - fingers crossed ITV will give us Blithe Spirit soon.

[pro-bassoonist]

Pro-B

[Matt865]

ITV DVD have a varied record with their Blu-ray releases so far. Great Expectaions was very well presented, with great looking video. Black Narcissus was alright, if nothing to write home about. The Ipcress File was fairly terrible in terms of video quality.

Would be nice to hear some comments from members here if anyone is planning on purchasing it.

[pro-bassoonist]

We will review it.

Pro-B

[Heart&Soul]

Is Doctor Zhivago on that list?

[pro-bassoonist]

No.

Pro-B

[samper1]

I have to agree on the Ipcress File. Not a great transfer. BN, to me atleast, was stupendous.

[pro-bassoonist]

update:

We received the disc today, and the review will be up shortly, but I wanted to warn you that this is ITV's first region-locked release: It is Region-B only!!

Pro-B

[samper1]

Bummer - too late to cancel - its already on its way from amazon UK.

[Tadji Malik]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

update:

We received the disc today, and the review will be up shortly, but I wanted to warn you that this is ITV's first region-locked release: It is Region-B only!!

Pro-B

No! Sob...

It does look as though there are several Lean films coming our way soon though. And they'll make over the pond eventually.