Adaptation of Still Life
The film is based on Noël Coward's one-act play Still Life (1936), one of ten short plays in the cycle Tonight at 8:30, designed for Gertrude Lawrence and Coward himself to be performed in various combinations as triple bills. All scenes of Still Life are set in the refreshment room of a railway station (the fictional Milford Junction).
As is normal in films based on stage plays, the film depicts places that are only referred to in the play: Dr. Lynn's flat, Laura's home, a cinema, a restaurant and a branch of Boots the Chemists. Additionally, a number of scenes have been added which are not in the play: a scene on a lake in a rowing boat where Dr. Harvey gets his feet wet; Laura wandering alone in the dark, sitting down on a park bench and smoking in public; a drive in the country in a borrowed car.
Some scenes are made less ambiguous and more dramatic in the film. The scene in which the two lovers are about to commit adultery is toned down: in the play it is left for the audience to decide whether they actually consummate their relationship. In the film, Laura has only just arrived at Dr. Lynn's flat when the owner returns, and is immediately led out by Dr. Harvey via the fire escape. Later, when Laura wants to throw herself in front of an express train, the film makes this intention clear by means of voice-over narration.
There are two editions of Coward's original screenplay for the film adaptation, both listed in the bibliography.
Read more about this topic: Brief Encounter
Famous quotes containing the word adaptation:
“Whatever there be of progress in life comes not through adaptation but through daring, through obeying the blind urge.”
—Henry Miller (1891–1980)