by Kenneth Andrews

Created on: May 24, 2009

There are films that a lot of people think they know, but have never really seen. David Lean's 'Brief Encounter' is certainly a good example. Most people can tell you the plot, a doomed romance conducted at a railway station. Others will tell you there's a bit when the train's moving off and someone's running to keep up (there, er, isn't). Some people can even tell you that Noel Coward wrote it. It's one of those films like Citizen Kane, where you can feel that the critics have watched it just so that you don't have to.

I was surprised, then, at how much of a gem it really was. The film opens at the station, where the bulk of the action takes place. A guard hops over the tracks (a more devil may care time) and strolls into the cafe.

Once in there, he begins some cheery banter with the manager. Just as this is becoming irredeemably dull, the camera pulls out to reveal a middle-aged couple, sat at a table looking glum. They instantly become the focus of our attention, although we will not be introduced to them properly for some time.

This is the crux of the whole film. Through a dazzling screenplay and superb cinematography, we are constantly presented with people talking rubbish about trains, the weather and cups of tea. Lean and Coward appear to leave it to the viewer to decide what's important. We know that something significant is happening with the man's pat on the shoulder, and as we're only human we have a pretty good idea what's going on.

In this film of manners gone mad, where a man and a woman can only disclose their passion in maddeningly tiny increments, how do we really know what's important and what isn't? Through sly filmmaker skill, our eye is directed throughout. Variations in lighting levels and careful positioning of objects in front of the camera can draw the audience's attention without them even realising. It's a subtle subliminal approach that Lean takes it just doesn't happen in major films now, with contemporary film-makers more likely to convey significance through editing and dialogue. Each approach is equally valid really, but Brief Encounter's method just feels more sophisticated and respectful to the audience, somehow, although in reality it's hugely manipulative.

The narrative also runs in a massively interesting fashion. We don't understand exactly what's happening between this curiously intense couple on the opening scene, and that's because we've arrive halfway through. All the smouldering glances and clipped lines

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