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Brief Encounter

Brief Encounter. Representation of the family Who is in the family? What are their roles? What happens when Laura steps outside of her role?.

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Brief Encounter

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  1. Brief Encounter

  2. Representation of the family • Who is in the family? • What are their roles? • What happens when Laura steps outside of her role?

  3. It is easy to imagine Laura's predicament, having to choose between a loyal but dull husband and the charismatic Alec. It was a dilemma with a national perspective. The war had separated millions of families, but now it was the duty of government - which had split them originally - to reunite husbands and wives and children and keep them together. To rebuild itself into a cohesive nation Britain needed to re-establish family life. It was the recipe for not only stability and progress but for that other important ingredient which had also been missing from people's lives - happiness.

  4. If there was a message in Brief Encounter it was a warning against yielding too easily to temptation. Enjoying a bit of slap and tickle between air raids - characterized in the film by the saucy banter between the ticket collector and the buffet manageress - was harmless enough, but serious affairs like the one between Alec and Laura had to be resisted for the sake of the families and for society as a whole.

  5. Guilt and hesitancy ran through it like lettering through a stick of rock. And the establishment view triumphed in the end. Conscience got the better of passion, and everyone went back to square one. Laura thought she wanted a dream lover, but when she landed one, the only garment she would remove for him was her hat.

  6. Imaginative use of light and shadow created the atmosphere and captured the tension that occupies the core of Brief Encounter and which holds the story together. Lean relied heavily on his director of photography Robert Kraskerto achieve the effects he wanted.Krasker, developed his technical skills in pre-war Germany as an exponent of German expressionism; its stark imagery, menacing shadows, strategic and economic use of lighting and low-angle camerawork later were to become the hallmark of Hollywood film noir. As Alec and Laura cross under the subway we see Krasker's skills in action - their shadows on the wall, enlarged and distorted, give advance notice of their appearance; a passing train pumps white-hot steam into the black sky. The mood of tension and alienation created byKraskerextends to the faces of the couple as they walk sadly, wordlessly, to their last goodbye.

  7. How does Brief Encounter measure up against the UK Film council’s definition of what makes a film influential on the British consciousness and sense of identity? • Reference in other texts • Nominated for Oscar for best actress & best director. Won critics prize at the Cannes Festival

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