Rating: 5/5
Criterion Challenge 2024 | 43/52 | 1940s
Trains come and go through Milford Junction. Albert Godby, the ticket inspector, checks his watch and visits the station’s refreshment room. There, he gets a coffee from the cafe owner, Myrtle Bagot, and the two carry on, although Myrtle is cold with Albert since he didn’t make it in yesterday. Two people, Laura Jesson and Dr. Alec Harvey, sit at a table in the corner. Dolly, Laura’s work colleague, bursts into the room, surprised to find Laura sitting there. Dolly sits at Laura and Alec’s table and asks Dr. Harvey to fetch her tea. With Alec gone, Dolly jokes about calling Laura’s husband, Fred, for her being at a table with another man.
The bell rings for Alec’s train—he’s returning to his Churley practice. Next week, he’ll be going to Africa with his wife and two boys. Alec places a hand on Laura’s shoulder and departs. The forlorn Laura watches Alec leave. Meanwhile, Dolly carries on with all her idle chitchat. She stands up to fetch a chocolate from the counter. The train to Churley departs. When Dolly looks back, she notices Laura’s absence, only for Laura to return a moment later. Dolly comments on Laura’s peckish appearance. Their train arrives, and the two board.
This can't last. This misery can't last. I must remember that and try to control myself. Nothing lasts, really—neither happiness nor despair. Not even life lasts very long. There'll come a time in the future when I shan't mind about this anymore when I can look back and say quite peacefully and cheerfully how silly I was. No, no, I don't want that time to come ever. I want to remember every minute, always—always to the end of my days.
Laura returns home to her husband, son, and daughter. Tomorrow is her son Bobby’s birthday. Her children go to bed, and Laura sits to chat with Fred. Out of the blue, Laura starts to weep uncontrollably. Fred is the one person she wishes to confide in, but she knows that, even if she did when they were old and all their years were behind them, it would still hurt Fred to see the truth—that she has fallen in love with someone else.
Through flashbacks and narration, Laura recalls the circumstances through which she met Alec and how their relationship blossomed in secret. It all began in the Milford Junction refreshment room.
The film also explores another relationship between Myrtle and Albert in the refreshment room. As this is their place of work and the only place we see them, the nature of their relationship only comes to the surface through suggestion and innuendos. In that way, the refreshment room serves the opposite purpose for them as it does for Laura and Alec.
The cinematography is perfect. The eloquent framing, the suggestive lighting, the sharp transitions—you could mute this movie and get so much of the story, as unspoken moments tell much of it. Most importantly, the movie doesn’t adorn every scene with dramatic compositions—it knows when those moments are necessary for the story. The economics of these choices are lessons that many contemporary filmmakers could consider.
Every scene has a brilliant moment. I love it when Laura stands on the train platform, suddenly overcome with a sense of danger. Just then, a train passes, illuminating her face and filling the space with smoke, creating a disorienting sense of physical threat to accompany Laura’s emotional one. Similarly, when Laura asks Fred if Dr. Harvey can come for dinner, and he asks if it could be lunch so he wouldn’t have to be there, Laura breaks into uncontrollable laughter as all her worry burns away. Also, I love when she’s on the train, and she catches her smile in her reflection.
Noel Coward’s exploration of forbidden love is open to several interpretations beyond the affair itself. The one I find most compelling is that Alec and Laura’s plight mirrors that of many gay men of the time, especially with the rise of laws surrounding homosexuality, making the social conditions in which their relationship could be consummated neigh impossible.
I adore this movie. Between this, The Bridge on the River Kwai, and Blithe Spirit, David Lean is quickly becoming a favorite director of mine.