Brief Encounter

Ahhhh, at last, a Janus Films presentation to set the New Year right.

David Lean has made enough great films that you should be able to read, "This is a David Lean film" and just go from there. (Perhaps you have searched out such obscure titles as "Lawrence of Arabia" or "Doctor Zhivago.") Also worth your time is his "Summertime," with Kate Hepburn as a single woman discovering Venice. Never an easy proposition there....

Plenty of wit in "Brief Encounter" -- but no sex please, they're British -- and some nifty tricks to make whistles and clouds seem like a very busy train station. The photography doesn't quite shimmer, but Criterion's restoration does everything to make the image matter.

Really, the reason I like having watched this movie is because I bought it for ONE DOLLAR at one of the occasional Friends Of The Seattle Public Library sales. No booklet was included, and library stickers are all over it inside and out, but I'm not complaining. I have a bunch of these surplus discs and perhaps I'll get a few more in 2010. If you want to find Comedic Musical Samurai New Wave Noir, the FOSPL sale is where it's at. See you there in April.