GB
2011
1hr 38mins
Dir: Terence Davies
Starring: Rachel Weisz and Tom Hiddleston
The wife of a judge is caught in a self-destructive love affair with a Royal Air Force pilot
This romantic drama was an adaptation of the 1952 Terence Rattigan play of the same name and features a scene filmed at Aldwych Underground station, now a regular in feature film. Although a little predictable and quite plodding at times, the scene at Aldwych is very good indeed. Rachel Weisz arrives onto an empty platform which transforms itself into an air raid shelter as she reminiscences about her past. She is then woken by a passing train, which we do not see, but having arrived at the station in a suicidal state the reflections of the carriage lighting passing across her windswept face is very reminiscent of the final scene in Brief Encounter (qv). Like Celia Johnson in the 1945 classic she cannot bring herself to jump, so leaves the station and walks off to live with the guilt that evolved from her love. With people camping out on the platform and Molly Malone being mournfully sung by a solitary individual the scene is really well worked and is in fact quite moving. There was an early film adaptation of 1955 but this film is not thought to contain anything railway related.
