Letter From an Unknown Woman

I must say that there have been few movies (dramas) which have emotioned me so much as this work of art by master director Max Ophüls (credited as Opuls here)...only films like "Portrait of Jennie" or "Dodsworth"...this was another one-of-a-kind experience for me. I had read so much about it, that I had to SEE it...so I bought this VHS here, at Amazon.com marketplace sellers, where I've always made great transactions & had very good overall experiences, especially when it comes to obtain, these "out of stock/print", kind of elusive gems. Joan Fontaine gives what one can easily be, the most wondrous, poetic, performance, she ever gave, including "Rebecca" and "Suspicion"...Here she simply is at her very best, close to perfection...just as Jennifer Jones, gave (IMHO) THE performance of her career in the aforementioned "Portrait of Jennie". She convicingly grows from an "innocent" adolescent who falls deeply in love with an artist (Louis Jourdan), looking him, following him, listening to him, "in hiding", "in the shadows", quietly, living her life only "for/because of him"... although he's unaware of that. This obsession of hers with this man, reaches to a point where nothing makes sense to her without him. It's platonic love & adoration, taken to extreme limits, almost to the boundaries of insanity, yet so disarmingly naive and true! Louis Jourdan is equally effective, as the debonair, devil-make-care, playboy, man of the world, pianist, who realizes too late, what has been going on. Wonderful art direction, sets, mood, atmosphere, cinematography, narration...excellent "raccontos/flashbacks"...great camera work, gowns, period detail...everything is so right...especially the truth in Lisa's (Fontaine) very deep love for this man, who becomes the only reason of her life, of her "breathing", of her "existence". Max Ophüls really made a work of art, out of this movie...which by the way, I read somewhere, had a similar plot than the 1933 "Only Yesterday", which marked the debut in the american cinema, of that gorgeous actress, Margaret Sullavan; although Ophüls' film, is by far superior...'cos it "trascends" the "Tearjerker" status; it has an ethereal quality all of his own. Not since watching "Shadowlands" in March of this year, I had felt & been so moved by a film. Really, ROMANTIC, unrequited love, at his best. And I tell you, I'm not an "easy" person...in other words, I do not "emote" easily, and at the film's conclussion, I have no shame in admitting that I cried like a baby. It reached my heart & soul. This film ought to be restored and released on dvd format, since it is one of the landmark films of all time. Although I must say the Republic VHS Edition, is decent indeed.

Depiction of another era, of Freud and his female understanding, of the importance of love and beauty and refinement for survival,

Directed by the famous french director, Max Ophuls, this classic romantic film is considered a quintessential story of bittersweet unrequited love, through it's tale of imaginary romance, pinning for love, yearning, embodied in doom, delusional and illusory relationship with the self-absorbed, frivolous, concert pianist. Then the seduction that leads to a pregnancy, then to a loveless marriage to another. She would wait for hours to run into him, while he never remembered her. Both missed opportunities over a span of years, ultimately failing to attain true love. Told through flashbacks and the deathbed letter written by the wife of the man the pianist must duel at dawn. Starring Joan Fountain and Louis Jordan, as the pianist. Written by Howard Roch, previous Academy Award winner (Casablanca), adapted from the 1922 novella, by Stefan Zwelg. Joan Fountain's own production company produced the film. John Houseman, Orson Wells' former partner and un-credited co-author of Citizen Kane 1941, was the the film's producer. The DVD has no special features, but the sound is good and the picture is good.

Joan Fontaine delivers a powerful performance in a gripping story of a young girls love for an older man. The pain that comes along with it and the destruction that love creates for all those involved. I really enjoyed this film for its depiction of dysfunction and pain. A must see for anyone who has loved someone who didn't realize you existed until it was too late.

It took me a Google search to know what this story was really about, not to mention it is probably the worst movie I have ever seen. Jourdan looked like a badly made up wooden doll. I assume this movie was dubbed and the creators were careful not to show his face in close up, so we would not see his lips move speaking French, coming out in English. This may just be my opinion but that is what it looked like. Gigi remains for me the only memorable movie he did.This purchase was a big waste of money for me.

This is a superb production well acted and directed, and it is as romantic as a film gets. However, the utter lack of character definition is an obvious flaw in the story. For the woman, it is an obsession as she never really knew the man she claims to love all her life, and he did not even remember her after a brief, sexual love affair that resulted in her becoming pregnant. Nowhere in this story is her character defined except that she's in love with a handsome, talented ghost of a man, who has a child by him that was cared for and loved, but sadly, died of Typhus at 12. As she's dying of the same disease, she writes a letter to the object of her love and, basically, lets him know what he missed all those years. Joan Fontaine and Louis Jourdan were accomplished actors, and their performances were much enjoyed!

The story of a man who learns of the love of a stranger and regains his lost decent.

Way back when I first saw this movie I loved it. I loved it so much I could almost recite the dialog. I still love it. It's very hard to love someone who does not love you.... Who would have dreamed that one day I would own the movie? There are those who decry technology but how wonderful to be able to watch a movie in your own home. Kids today take so much for granted. Louis Jourdan was Louis Jourdan in the movie. He became a captive of the lover parts but Joan Fontaine was outstanding. Marvelous. Great. To love someone all your life and not be remembered is beyond sad.

Good

It has taken easily a half-century for a film which had no great reception at the time of its release to find its rightful place in the cinema pantheon. Max Ophüls had at best a chequered career in the US and his focus on blighted love was not one audiences wanted to see. But Joan Fontaine was a name to be reckoned with and here gives a tremendously heartfelt performance. She is the film, aided and abetted by Ophüls, producer John Houseman with a graceful script by the much-lamented Howard Koch, a victim of the blacklist. Making matters more problematic, Letter was an independent film and has long been unavailable in any format. It is only its reputation in the UK and later in Europe that has kept it from sliding into oblivion. The BFI has done us all a tremendous service with this release and is to be commended for the effort. A side note. Letter is not Fontaine's favourite film and she chooses the 1943 The Constant Nymph, also unavailable, in its stead. She lives quietly in Carmel, California and has had several medical setbacks in recent years. This film stands the test of time, it is immortal, as few films are. Colin Thurlow

Quick delivery, DVD in excellent condition. I obtained this movie based only on printed recommendation. I had read about it in an article somewhere, and wanted to find out more about it. When it was offered by Amazon, I decided to purchase it. It is a grand addition to my DVD collection. I am very pleased to own it. A quiet, haunting movie that aches in its own way. Thank you.

Como obra maestra que es, la película se merece cinco estrellas, y más. Sin embargo aquí no voy a opinar sobre la película, de sobra conocida por los aficionados al cine, y que tiene que tener un espacio en la colección de cualquier cinéfilo, sino de la edición. Se trata, la que voy a comentar, de una edición en blu-ray editada por Feel Films; por más que he revisado tanto las carátulas como el disco no he visto el año de edición. La película no se acompaña de extras de ningún tipo. Dentro de la caja, que es la típica con marcos azules de los blu-ray, viene el disco y la carátula es uno de los carteles con que se exhibió la película en su día. En cuanto a los idiomas, podemos verla en versión original en inglés (es lo que yo he hecho), o bien doblada al castellano (no puedo opinar sobre su calidad ya que no la he visto en esta versión). En cuanto a los subtítulos, podemos verla subtitulada en castellano o en portugués (o sin subtitular, claro está): no hay posibilidad de verla subtitulada en inglés, cosa que tan interesante puede ser para estudiantes. Por lo tanto, desde este punto de vista, la edición es correcta, pero pobre, y un poco cara (yo pagué por ella 13,29 euros). En cuanto a la calidad de la imagen hay que decir que es muy buena. La fotografía original en blanco y negro queda muy bien, están, a mi modo de ver, bastante bien respetados los contrastes, y el grano, con ser un película rodada en 1948, tampoco es problema. El sonido, por lo menos en la versión original, también es bastante bueno. En resumidas cuentas, por el precio que yo pagué se echa de menos algún extra, de ahí las cuatro estrellas. Si obviamos esto, creo que esta eidición se puede recomendar sin mayor problema.

film incourtourbable malheureusement l'exemplaire acheté était défectueux film à réediter au plus vite à Prix normal 10-12 euros max dommage de paser par des reéditions chinoises!