The greatest movie ever made..!

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

The acting in this movie is really good.

I am very fond of this movie, which I have watched several times. It is exceptionally well made, with not a single scene that does not work. It is funny, wise, droll and sensitive. Acting and direction are impeccable. It is not a great film, in fact the very idea of greatness is at odds with the elegiac tone and message. But it is a deeply satisfying one, and watching it is a bit like wallowing in a warm bath with a single malt and Chopin playing, preferably the same Chopin as in the film. The film is not flawless. The plot premise is totally incredible and the ending doesn't work, but what the heck. Roger Ebert has a very good review of it.

I immensely enjoyed this film, albeit for somewhat shameful reasons! It is rather clichéd, has many inconsistencies and unlikely plot devices, however it is also knowing, charming and unapologetically French. Whilst it will not become one of my favoured films as the characters are a little weak and as i've said the story is rather sentimental I got a great deal of pleasure watching it.This is just the sort of drama American studios seem unable to make and this is why this slender little film punches so far above it's weight. Undoubtedly 'non actor' Hallyday would run rings around a great many of Hollywood's sons. The beginning and end of the film were the highlights, although I feel better use could have been made of the train and it's journey as a vehicle for the themes explored.

This is the story of Manesquier a retired professor who still does a little teaching of poetry. Nothing in his house has been changed since his mother died 30 years ago. He lives quietly with his books, his piano and his dreams of what could have been.We are all made up of two parts....we are what we are and we are what we would like to be. Manesquier is like that. He leaves his doors unlocked so that his alter ego can enter unannounced. This is Milan whom he finds so fascinating, so exciting, living a life so unlike his own lonely existence. Milan is a thief, a bank robber, a man of action, quick on the draw...but talks little.In my opinion Milan does not exist as a person but only in the mind of Manesquier. All of the scenes in which Milan appears are in Manesquier's imagination. Viviane too is a part of his memories.The final scenes of the hospital operating theatre cutting to and from the bank robbers in action are a dramatic but bewildering conclusion. Once again my explanation is that the only real happening is what is taking place in the hospital. Manesquier always wanted to be a part of the excitement of a robbery and so he imagines under anaesthesia what it would be like with all the noisy shooting and Milan (the other part of him) dying on the steps. Anaesthesia and his failing heart are playing tricks on his mind. The nurse responds to his murmurs and he pulls through the operation.The throwing of the keys to Milan across the street is purely a symbolic action indicating perhaps that after all these years he is turning his back on the house with all its sad memories and is looking forward to a new and different future. In the closing scene we see him in the train pensively moving on.The script and acting are brilliant. I also like the sound effects of the speeding train and the music. I'm not sure why the streets are so empty. They emphasize that life is pretty boring in that part of the world where nothing ever really happens...

Bear with me as I take you back to the 1960s. You're a mogul with the power to Green Light a property and I've got 60 seconds to 'pitch' to you. Okay, an Amtrak pulls in to Buffalo Crap, Iowa and Charles Bronson gets off. His eyes, slits in a pillbox at the best of times, narrow even more as he surveys Nowheresville. But even hardmen have headaches so he heads for the drugstore and some Milltown. Already in the drugstore is Mr Milquetoast personified, Edward Everett Horton (this is our Meet-Cute, geddit). Leaving the drugstore they strike up a conversation when Bronson remarks that the druggist sold him a soluble version. No problem, says Horton, my large, rambling family home is right here, be my guest. Bronson is here for a few days to knock over the local bank, Horton has been here a lifetime teaching English prior to his retirement. Conveniently the hotel is closed so Horton invites Bronson to stay as his guest, cue male bonding. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence and at heart tough guy Bronson is an English teacher and foppish Horton a bad ass dude. Alas, Hollywood doesn't respond to pitches like that but Hosannahs, France does and here we have Johnny Hallyday teamed with Jean Rochefort in a miniature gem brimming over with delicate 'touches' and top-drawer performances. Patrice Leconte is right amongst the cream of current French Directors and he seldom puts a foot wrong in this terse yet rambling Brief Encounter. One that can stand multiple viewings.