“....Home?”
“If you want to, that is”

This might be the most revealing thing I ever write on here but here it is: The attempt to reconcile the need for independence, security, safety, mutual companionship/affection (what I’ve always thought I wanted) and the desire to be swept away in a grand romance, to lose yourself in someone else no matter what the future holds (what I’ve been grappling with during this romance marathon for the past 2-3 weeks) is something I’ve never really thought about before until I was presented with it here in such a deeply affecting way. Now I realize that, because of what I’ve been going through in the past few weeks, it may certainly become an issue I need to seriously put thought into. I don’t think I’m ready to yet, but I hope I will be eventually.

👍

Damn. I don’t really have any words to say.

“From the music they love, you shall know the texture of men’s souls.”

DIVORCE 😑

A film about the tension between freedom and obligation. Below the surface of passion though, an innate loneliness and unfamiliarity. These are two lovers who barely know each other and have different expectations of love. I love the scenes when Mary and Stephen are together, but the voiceover kicks in, or a daydream. The passion that exists between them hinges on a kind false visions of each other. They can only see what they want, their desire clouding flaws, contradictions, and incompatibility. The bloom of wanting as inspiring as it is destructive.

The Passionate Friends reminds me of the quiet longing in Brief Encounter (1945) mixed with the hopeful second meeting in Before Sunset (2004), and although this film is much more melodramatic in nature than the films I referenced, I still found it quite successful when it focused on the small, intimate moments between the lovers. David Lean does this so well in his films, where the characters can relax and breathe in their environments without the interference of the camera’s gaze. If it hadn’t played up to some melodramatic clichés, this film would have been perfect.

3.75/5

I should've just rewatched Brief Encounter.

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

It's not quite Brief Encounter's equal, but The Passionate Friends is still amazing, playing like a flip side to Lean's earlier masterpiece. The core plot elements are all there, right down to an interloping Trevor Howard, but while Brief Encounter is agonizingly restrained, only boiling over into sweeping emotion a few times, The Passionate Friends is wildly, gloriously stylized from start to finish, its visual audacity remarkably attuned to the emotional nuances of its characters. (The performers help too – especially Claude Rains, who is incredible, making the most of his many closeups.) The result comes closer than you'd expect to matching its predecessor's poignance. It's really excellent.

P.S. I watched this because P.T. Anderson mentioned it as an influence on Phantom Thread. It didn't take more than five minutes to see why.

For a minute there I thought I had put on Phantom Thread by accident

👍

Damn. I don’t really have any words to say.

“From the music they love, you shall know the texture of men’s souls.”

Edit: In desperate need of rewatch but I can't find it anywhere, I'd predict 8/10 when I do

"Oh, the silly things we do when we're young."

Claude Raines MVP.

I actually let out an audible laugh near the end of the movie. I mean, damn, I'd want Claude Rains to save me from depression too lmao. Ahem.

Anyway. I like the story but the melodrama is hilarious. I never heard Claude Rains shouts ever since The Invisible Man. I think the characters' dynamic could be so much better but they're treated like pulling cheese. Duh. Also I'm not satisfied with how the mc's redeemed. I don't mean to be negative, but I think she needed to prove herself more than that. Like dammit woman, not even a simple apology?

Personal opinions aside, this movie does gave an interesting outlook between what people want or need in a marriage. Mature stuff that I don't think many movies tried to dive into. That is, if you're able to endure the melodrama.

David Lean vuelve al adulterio, pero algo falta.

Quizá porque Claude Rains no puede quitarse el sambenito de cornudo perverso cuando aquí debería ser trágico, quizá porque el personaje de Trevor Howard es pura sosería o que Ann Todd se cree más Brönte que Bovary. O quizá sea la historia que por mucho Wells y Ambler que haya detrás no da mas sí.

Sin embargo, es Lean. Y esas nieblas, y ese viento, y esas vías del tren, son maravillosas. Y sobretodo esa escena después de la obra de teatro que los amantes no han ido a ver, pero el marido sí.

Hay suspense, hay deseo y hay dolor, pero...

david, did you think no one was gonna notice you making another movie where a woman falls in love with trevor howard, goes thru emotional turmoil about it, and thinks about jumping in front of some kind of moving vehicle?

"It's a cold, bloodless bankers point of view and I don't believe a word of it."

Some really sharp and crisp filmmaking prowess in a lot of these shots, it was easily a big influence on 'Phantom Thread'. Loved the transitions, acting was on point if occasionally theatrical, but altogether welcoming. Wasn't quite as personally climactic as 'Brief Encounter. However, I was personally impressed in the third acts developments as being atypical for the period.

Clearly an influence on PTA's Phantom Thread. Especially the New Year's scene and the Alps stuff.

Reminiscent of Brief Encounter. Another solid pre-epic David Lean movie. Quite sophisticated memory structure for 1949.

i feel like someone is always fucking with claude rains’ relationships

Melodrama of the highest order.
Rightly recognized for the writing and the performances, which are subtle and cutting.
But it’s also great and innovative from a pure filmmaking perspective. Editing, sound, cinematography - all precise and expressive on a par with the best Hitchcock. Or indeed, the best of David Lean.