Monday, April 6, 2015

Cinema Cycle - Brief Encounter


CINEMA CYCLE
(Cardio Workout And Reviewing Movies At The Same Time)

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DATE VIEWED: 04/06/2015


FORMAT: Laserdisc

TIME RIDDEN / FILM LENGTH: 1 hour 29 minutes

DISTANCE RIDDEN WHILE VIEWING: 21.5 miles

TOTAL CINEMA MILES LOGGED: 1445.5 miles

SYNOPSIS: Two married people meet at a London train station and begin a brief affair

CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER: The subtlety of relationships and affection set against the social norms of the time.

PROS AND CONS: I have seen this film before because it was one of David Lean’s (Bridge on the River Kwai / Laurence of Arabia) early works.  By today’s standards, not an outstanding film, but fairly groundbreaking for its time.  The concept of married individuals having an affair was pretty taboo in 1940s England.  

What made this viewing a bit more interesting was the fact that this LaserDisc has an audio commentary by film historian Bruce Eder.  This commentary is more insightful regarding the relationships and careers of David Lean and Noel Coward (the writer/producer) than anything else.  I learned a lot of information about David Lean and the motivations for this and subsequent Lean films.

The film is a wonderful period piece, showing London social life and the dark street / station scenes are almost dream-like.  As a gauge of just how much times have changed, the ‘affair’ that the lead characters have in this film ends with a kiss, actually two of them.  That is what passed for scandalous back in 1940s London.  

To read an overview of this project, check out the initial post for this series.

This film is a part of my LaserDisc Collection.

Clicking on the title will take you to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) entry for this film. 

This film was viewed while exercising on my recumbent cycle.  A summary of my time spent working out on my journey through movie-land can be found on Strava.com.

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