17 October 2011

Brief Encounter



The closing six minutes of the famous David Lean film. Celia Johnson parting from Trevor Howard, then returning to her husband, all to the music of Rachmaninoff's second Piano Concerto.

This is absolutely one of my favorite movies of all time, and winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 1946, and #2* in the British Film Institutes list of the Top 100 British Films.

There are excerpts of many of the iconic moments from the film available on YouTube. The one embedded above is the tear-jerking finale. For a total (and refreshing, for film buffs) change, try the parody embedded below, starring Victoria Wood. It's exceptionally well done.

*(The Third Man, because I know you're going to look it up...) (Reposted from 2009)

5 comments:

  1. AnonymousOctober 17, 2011 at 11:00 PM

    I viewed this just to hear the Rachmaninoff concerto (I like his more energetic stuff). I was amazed to hear a familiar passage from Eric Carmen's 70's hit "All By Myself".

    John from Wisconsin

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  2. MinnesotastanOctober 17, 2011 at 11:36 PM

    Re the above...

    "All by Myself" is a power ballad written and performed by Eric Carmen in 1975. The verse is based on the second movement (Adagio Sostenuto) of Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor,

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  3. SkipweaselOctober 18, 2011 at 3:54 PM

    I'm rather partial to "A Matter of Life and Death" myself.

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  4. MinnesotastanOctober 18, 2011 at 4:53 PM

    I'll check it out. Tx for the suggestion, Skip.

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  5. FesterOctober 29, 2011 at 1:22 AM

    Whenever I hear Rachmaninoff's second piano concerto, I think of Tom Ewell trying to romance Marilyn Monroe in The Seven Year Itch.

    Invariably I start laughing.

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