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BRIEF ENCOUNTER


From Worldometer (new  COVID-19 deaths yesterday):

         DAY  USA  WORLD    Brazil    India    South Africa

2020
June     9     1093     4732         1185        246       82
July    22      1205     7128         1293      1120     572
Aug    12      1504     6556        1242        835     130
Sept     9      1208      6222       1136       1168       82
Oct     21      1225      6849         571        703       85
Nov    25       2304    12025        620        518      118
Dec    30       3880    14748       1224       299      465
2021
Jan     14       4142      15512       1151         189     712
Feb      3       4005    14265       1209       107      398
Mar      2       1989     9490        1726       110      194
April     6        906    11787         4211       631       37
May     4        853     13667        3025      3786     59 
June    1        287    10637         2346      3205      95
 July    7         251      8440        1595        817      411
Aug     4         656    10120        1118        532      423 
Sept   22      2228      9326          839       279     124
Oct      6       2102      8255          543       315       59
Nov    3        1436      7830         186        458       23
Dec     1       1633      8475          266        477       28
2022
Jan     7        2025      6729         148         285     140
Feb     2        2990   12012          946        991      175
Mar     2        1778     7756          335         173       28 
Apr     1          439      4056         290          52       12
May    5          225      2404         151            ?        64
June    2         216      1413         130           10        31
July    6          316      1627         335           35       12 
Aug    4          311       2138         258          70         ?
Sep    1           272       1732         174            ?         ?
Oct     6          281       1305         119            9         ?
Nov    3          167         980           16            ?         ?
        25            88         985           71             3        ?  
Dec    3          149       1029         131            3         ?
          8          194       1320         104             6       86
        15           147       1295         124             4         ?
        22          289       1637         165             9         ? 
        28          296       1768         337            2         ?
Jan    4          346       1534         207             ?         ?
         5           220       1611          183             ?         ? 
       12            270       1470         128             ?         ?
       19            225       1775         480             ?         ?
        26           351       1361           92             1         7
Feb    1           221       1261         126              ?         ?
          8          329        999          50             2         ?
        15           211         999         132             1         ?

Summary:
  • #1 in new deaths yesterday was Japan with 213.  USA #2 with 211 and Brazil #3 132.
  • #1 in new cases was Japan with 28,772, #2 Germany 20,911, #3 Taiwan 19861, #4 USA 19,424 and #5 S. Korea 14,957.
  • A useful statistic, new cases/million population.
    • #1    831  Taiwan  
    • #2    655  Austria
    • #3    352  Turks/Calcos
    • #4    291  S. Korea
    • #5    249  Germany
    • #6    229  Japan
    • #17    58  USA
    • Why useful?  These are the countries most dangerous for you to visit today.
I regularly wake up watching Classic Arts Showcase.  Over the years, I've seen the last few minutes of Brief Encounter, and know the ending well.  I've always been curious about how Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard reached this state of their relationship.  Well, I was scrolling through the available TV shows a few days ago, and this film had already begun on the TCM channel.  I did not have time to watch, so I recorded it.
This is a 1945 British romantic drama directed by David Lean, based on a screenplay be Noël Coward.  In 1999, the British Film Institute ranked it as the SECOND-GREATEST FILM OF ALL TIME!  Wow.

In short, two middle-agers, both happily married with two children accidentally meet, and, over a few weeks, find themselves in a relationship where they fall in love.  She is the one reminiscing about the tragedy of what is happening, and feels terrible about what she is doing.  Turns out that he, too, has fallen into this impossible affair.  Nothing really physical, all mental...yet.  Rachmaninoff's Concerto for Piano #2 begins the production, and returns at all the emotional moments.
Fortunately for you, I was able to find a copy of the whole Brief Encounter, something worth your watch.  I was then able to see the first ten minutes for the first time.

What becomes obvious is that many of us, too, might have had somewhat similar liaisons, and we place ourselves into their predicament.  Something so inadvertent, tenuous, forbidding, and meaningful.

The ending is far from happy, but the best for both, and their families, especially.  Again, those viewing this film identify with the whole experience, making the involvement personal.  This is what made Brief Encounter so well-received.  That was the 6-minute ending I've seen half a dozen times on CAS.
Movies like this make you wonder, was there a sequel?  The answer is a vague no.  Like the 1953 Roman Holiday (this a long colorized trailer), where you can envision a future for Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, many years later, accidentally re-getting together when both are available, what might happen.
There was a re-make 29 years later of Brief Encounter, a TV Hallmark Hall of Fame effort, with Sophia Loren and Richard Burton.  For those with a lot time, that is the whole 103-minute presentation.  However, Rotten Tomatoes reviewers did not stoop to rate, but there was an audience score of 57.  The 1945 movie got 91/91 ratings from Rotten Tomatoes.

1984 had another box office bomb, entitled Falling in Love, with Meryl Streep, Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel and Dianne Wiest.  The difference here is that Streep and De Niro get together at the end.  Rotten Tomatoes gave it 54/63 ratings.
So I further searched and found 10 great films about brief encounters:  All about heightened feelings involving chance meetings with obstacles.  Passion of a sexual nature is not for this subgenre, for fear of ruining the mood.  Trains seem prominent.  Paraphrasing Albert Einstein:  If you don't believe in any kind of magic or mystery, you're basically as good as dead.
  • Interesting that the above quote came from Celine (Julie Delpy, with Ethan Hawke) from the 2004 Before Sunset in Paris, but the film making this list was the 1995 Before Sunrise in Vienna.  And there was another sequel in 2013, Before Midnight.  All directed by Richard Linklater.  Haven't seen any of them, and will need to find all three for a triple-bill someday.
  • Of course, Brief Encounter.  
  • And Roman Holiday.
  • Certainly the 1942 Casablanca.
  • Going back earlier, the 1936 Partie de Campagne, by Jean Renoir.  The weather got in the way and this 40 minute production was completed in 1946.  Can't imagine why it made this list, but here is an article describing the effort.  Swore I saw Laurel and Hardy in this trailer.
  • The 2000 In the Mood for Love features married neighbors Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung in  rainy 1960s Hong Kong.
  • The 2003 Lost in Translation, directed by Sofia Coppola, starring Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson, is one of my all time favorites, mostly because it was largely filmed in this Tokyo hotel I used to stay in a long time ago, the Park Hyatt, but also for Murray's Suntory Hibiki commercial scene.  Yes, they were both well married, but this one had an age difference.
  • There were others.
Here is another list that includes films like It Happened One Night, West Side Story, A Streetcar Named Desire, Singing in the Rain, Some Like it Hot, The Apartment, Sabrina, Ninotchka, An Affair to Remember, The African Queen, His Girl Friday, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Irma la Douce, Pillow Talk, Charade, Marty, Now Voyager, Waterloo Bridge, Kiss Me Stupid, Romeo and Juliet and After the Thin Man.  And another of 20 movies.

I saw that Raquel Welch just passed away.  I include her because she was one day older than me.

- 

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