This film is currently unavailable
The Passionate Friends
David Lean’s other, lesser known film about a love triangle spent too long in Brief Encounter’s shadow, but is now regarded as a fine, gripping drama.
Director: David Lean
Overview
Adapted by Eric Ambler from an HG Wells novel, David Lean’s subtle study of emotional turmoil is a an unfairly neglected work in the director’s filmography, largely due to its perceived similarities to Brief Encounter.
Although it’s ostensibly a similar story of repressed desires, the film expands upon the earlier work’s psychological palette of desire, guilt and denial to include jealousy, betrayal and resentment. Lean deploys a sophisticated flashback structure to explore the dark corners of a romantic triangle: Mary (Ann Todd) and her rich banker husband Howard (Claude Rains), and Stephen (Trevor Howard), whom Mary knew before she married and whom she reencounters by chance while holidaying in Switzerland. Gauging the past’s inescapable influence on the present, and alert to the ambiguities of sexually charged relationships, Lean elicits fine performances from his cast (Rains is especially good) while fashioning a gripping drama that’s almost Expressionist in its intensity. Restoration supported by The David Lean Foundation.
Related
The Lost Boys The Lost Boys
Romance 2023 83 mins Director: Zeno Graton
Two young men find love in a hopeless place – a youth correctional facility – in Zeno Graton’s powerful and politically resonant feature debut.
Eismayer Eismayer
Drama 2022 87 mins Director: David Wagner
Drill sergeant Eismayer has a reputation as the toughest training officer in the Austrian military, but when he starts to fall in love with a new recruit, his closeted existence is shaken to the core.
Something Always Happens Something Always Happens
Comedy 1934 70 mins Director: Michael Powell
Michael Powell’s sprightly comedy about a freeloading charmer who romances the daughter of a wealthy petrol station owner.
Golden Delicious Golden Delicious
Romance 2022 120 mins Director: Jason Karman
An Asian Canadian teenager grapples with his identity when he falls for the boy next door in this sweet rites-of-passage drama.
The Innocent The Innocent
Comedy 2022 98 mins Director: Louis Garrel
Louis Garrel’s unique French comedy-heist-romantic-thriller comes loaded with charm and humour.
Between Me and You Between Me and You
Anthology 2021 91 mins Director: Maud Lazzrerini, Ruth Caudeli, Michelle Flores, More Raca and Ping-Weng Wang
An anthology of short films from female filmmakers about lesbian and LGBTQIA+ relationships.
Casablanca Casablanca
Romance 1942 103 mins Director: Michael Curtiz
Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman star in the eternal story of love, loss and redemption; the ultimate testament to the brilliance of Golden Age Hollywood.
Doctor Zhivago Doctor Zhivago
Drama 1965 200 mins Director: David Lean
An epic romance set against the backdrop of the Russian Revolution, David Lean’s Doctor Zhivago is one of cinema’s great love stories.
Great Expectations Great Expectations
Period drama 1947 118 mins Director: David Lean
The first of David Lean’s two Dickens adaptations is one of the finest British literary interpretations and one of the most acclaimed of all British films.
Oliver Twist Oliver Twist
Period drama 1948 116 mins Director: David Lean
Arguably the essential Dickens adaptation, David Lean’s evocative portrayal of Victorian London in sooty black and white features Alec Guinness as a memorably sinister Fagin.
Four Daughters Four Daughters
Drama-documentary 2023 103 mins Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
The mother-daughter relationship is explored to cathartic effect in this complex and poignant hybrid documentary about a woman and her missing daughters.
Her Last Affaire Her Last Affaire
Drama 1936 68 mins Director: Michael Powell
Michael Powell's 'society drama’ involving suspicion, clandestine romance and presumed murder, and glorious comic double-act from Googie Withers and John Lurie.
She Will She Will
Thriller 2021 96 mins Director: Charlotte Colbert
In Charlotte Colbert’s strikingly gothic film, an ageing actor recovering from a mastectomy taps into a mysterious power at a remote Scottish retreat.
Rynox Rynox
Crime 1932 46 mins Director: Michael Powell
Michael Powell’s earliest existing film is a twisty thriller crafted with a bold visual style that is unmistakeably influenced by Fritz Lang.
Hotel Splendide Hotel Splendide
Comedy 1932 53 mins Director: Michael Powell
Music hall veteran Jerry Verno stars as a lowly clerk who gets more than he bargained for when he inherits a hotel, in Michael Powell's charming comedy.
The Night of the Party The Night of the Party
Crime 1934 61 mins Director: Michael Powell
Michael Powell’s fun stage adaptation about a murder at a society party, with characterful performances from its fine ensemble cast.