Perhaps the finest american film from the famed european director max ophuls, the film stars joan fontaine as a young woman who falls in love with a concert pianist. Olive films bluray of letter from an unknown woman gives us a chance to see this impressive movie in a near perfect copy. Louis jourdan reads a letter written by a young viennese woman joan fontaine who fell instantly in love with him as a teenager and remained obsessed with him her entire life, despite eventually marrying a kind husband marcel journet who accepts the illegitimate child leo b. Letter from an unknown woman 1948 film movie facebook. All films are shown in the original version with spanish subtitles vose. Take letter from an unknown woman, made by max ophuls in 1948, and now brought back in lustrous restoration by the bfi. As she tells the story of her lifelong love for him, he is forced to reinterpret his own past. Its recognized as such now, having been drafted into the national film.
Letter from an unknown woman 1948 official trailer. The remainder of the film dramatizes the story contained within lisas letter. Film forum the passion of joan of arc has its final days one of murnaus greatest films. Letter from an unknown woman 1948, max ophuls youtube. Letter from an unknown woman is a 2004 chinese film written and directed by xu jinglei and is her second feature film as director after 2002s my father and i. Letter from an unknown woman is one of the greatest films of the 40s, and therefore of all time. Joan fontaine, louis jourdan, mady christians, max ophuls.
Letter from an unknown woman is a 1948 american blackandwhite drama romance film released by universalinternational and directed by max ophuls it was. The film stars joan fontaine, louis jourdan, mady christians, and marcel journet. The title missive from joan fontaines unknown lisa to louis jourdans flippant stefan begins a series of flashbacks recounting her allconsuming love for him and his inability to. The beginning and end of the film letter from an unknown woman 1949 were significantly changed due to censorship. The louis jourdan website letter from an unknown woman. But in 1948 ophuls was given an opportunity to display his legendary technique in a movie no one would have trouble understanding, the indulgently romantic letter from an unknown woman. On the subject of stefans conversion by the end of the film and its representation of a mans journey into symbolic order, and thus into history, see tania modleski, time and desire in the womans film, letter from an unknown woman, ed. Letter from an unknown woman 1948 turner classic movies. Released 1948, letter from an unknown woman stars joan fontaine, louis jourdan, mady christians, marcel journet the movie has a runtime of about 1 hr 30 min, and received a score of out of 100. Letter from an unknown woman and the umbrellas of cherbourg also screen. The film seems to formulate a bond between lisa berndle joan fontaine and the viewer, often making the last identify with the characters desires. Lisa pines desperately, refuses the proposal of an honorable suitor, and abandons her parents all sacrifices made to her absurd romantic delusions.
Why you should see max ophulss reissued 1948 classic film the. The womans sad life then unfolds through a series of flashbacks which reveal not only her many encounters with the man, but also the hardships she has faced during this chaotic time of change. Since the film is easily subsumed into the category of womens films and since the themes of the film, such as desire, personal renunciation, and death, all fall well within the areas traditionally encompassed by the hollywood. Letter from an unknown woman 1948 official trailer joan fontaine, louis jourdan movie hd a pianist about to flee from a duel receives a letter from a woman he cannot remember, who may hold the. Like douglas sirks written on the wind 1956 and other hollywood soaps of the period, letter from an unknown woman has climbed in stature after a closer look. A pianist about to flee from a duel receives a letter from a woman he cannot remember, who may hold the key to his. Maggie letter from an unknown woman 1948 good movie. Letter from an unknown woman 1948 full film download 1080p. Letter from an unknown woman is one of the few films that can be said to be truly beautiful. David thomson explains why letter from an unknown woman still resonates today. Letter from an unknown woman 1948 posters the movie.
Letter from an unknown woman is a 1948 american blackandwhite drama romance film. A man fleeing from a duel, receives a letter from a woman. The picture has some patches of light speckles as well but otherwise is far, far better looking than any copy ive seen. Letter from an unknown woman 1948 in early 20thcentury vienna, stefan brand louis jourdan is about to leave the city because he faces a duel that he wants no part of. Saat ia bercerita tentang cinta seumur hidup untuk dia, dia dipaksa untuk menafsirkan kembali masa lalunya sendiri. Leaving germany after the ascendancy of the nazi party, max ophuls made films in france and italy before emigrating to hollywood in the late 1940s. This is a well directed film from a director who appears to know what he needs from his actors, and camera operators.
Joan fontaine plays a girl then a woman who is sexually obligated and infatuated to louis jourdan, who is sexually free and only obligated to his music. Film society of lincoln center rossellini, murnau, warhol, pialat and more screen as part of the nonactor. Letter from an unknown woman the current the criterion. The film itself is sublime filled with beautiful imagery and wonderful. By the time you read this letter, i may be dead so begins the heartrending missive from joan fontaines unknown woman to louis jourdans dissolute pianist, its contentsflowing forth in flashbacksa soulbaring record of a lifetime of unrequited love, brief encounters, and romantic regret. Letter from an unknown woman 1948 the movie database. Letter from an unknown woman critics consensus golden age hollywood romance doesnt get much better than letter from an unknown woman, a powerful tale of doomed love.
In the film on the other hand both lisa and stefan take responsibility for their illicit affair. Letter from an unknown woman is directed by max ophuls, who also coadapts the screenplay with howard koch from the novella written by stefan zweig. The film is an adaptation of stefan zweigs 1922 novella of the same name which was also adapted in 1948 by screenwriter howard koch. Seorang pianis tentang melarikan diri dari duel menerima surat dari seorang wanita yang tidak ingat. In zweigs novella, the novelist r felt little remorse towards this unknown woman who wrote him a letter. It was based on the novella of the same name by stefan zweig. The film stars xu and jiang wen as lovers during the 1930s and 1940s in beijing. The subject of this monograph is the 1948 film directed by max ophuls, letter from an unknown woman. A lush story of unrequited love in turnofthecentury vienna, max ophulss letter from an unknown woman 1948 sumptuously visualizes the emotional power of one woman s lifelong fixation on a selfish man.
The same could be said to any viewers who, like most critics of the film s day, find the film overly sentimental. Letter from an unknown woman 1948 letter essentially follows the trajectory of a thomas hardy novel. Letter from an unknown woman is a melodrama which has gotten under the skin of many whove treasured it for decades, not just for its evocative direction and enveloping mood, but the poignancy found in chasing rainbows. Finally, letter from an unknown woman has assumed a central place in the current canon of feminist film criticism. Joan fontaine, letter from an unknown woman love and fate, two of the most fertile concepts in dramatic history, were rarely as perfectly realized as when one of the worlds greatest directors and one of hollywoods most undervalued stars joined forces to create his 1948 romantic opus, letter from an unknown woman. The era the film was made in definitely would have allowed to to run over the time it did, but im so thankful the story was relatively short, it made sure the. Virginia wrightwexman and karen hollinger, rutgers university press, new brunswick, 1986, pp. The classic letter from an unknown woman makes one. The only flaw i noticed is a slight unsteadiness in the title sequence, surely due to slightly shrunken elements.
Perhaps the finest american film from the famed european director max ophuls, the film stars joan fontaine as a young woman who falls in love with a concert. Letter from an unknown woman and other stories kindle. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading letter from an unknown woman and other stories. Letter from an unknown woman 1948 is the classic romantic film a lush tearjerker par excellence of the bittersweet theme of unrequited, lost love its considered a quintessential womans picture. Buy letter from an unknown woman 1948 bluray from amazons movies store. His servant gives him a letter from an unknown woman, which he reads. I talk about the ideas in the film, and about the position it takes regarding one of the perennial. Letter from an unknown woman 1948 the film spectrum. Letter from an unknown woman subtitles 58 subtitles. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Legendary european director max ophuls deeplymoving, timeless film is considered his greatest and most successful american film but a film unlike most hollywood films. Letter from an unknown woman is a 1948 american blackandwhite drama romance film released by universalinternational and directed by max ophuls listed as max opuls in the opening credits sequence. I f max ophuls hadnt cooled his heels in hollywood to flee the nazis, his name might have conjured only the most unintelligible of foreign cinemavague and inaccessible to the average american filmgoer. Letter from an unknown woman is at the same time a vehement critic of the notion of romantic love and attacks the very core of the ideology.
Letter from an unknown woman is an enjoyable story of romance and delusion, but one i felt i didnt fully connect with like everyone else. Letter from an unknown woman film society of lincoln center. Just as hes ready to take it on the lam, jourdan receives a letter from an unknown woman, one of many hes known in his life. Watch free online letter from an unknown woman 1948.
A pianist about to flee from a duel receives a letter from a woman he cannot remember. A man opening a letter from a dying woman confessing her long unrequited love for him. Letter from an unknown woman 1948 stream and watch. The object of her affection is louis jourdan, a womanizing concert pianist who when the film opens up is about to flee the scene rather than face an irate husband in a duel. Letter from an unknown woman and other stories kindle edition by stefan zweig, anthea bell. Metrograph is a new manhattan movie theater devoted to screening archivequality 35mm prints and new films in stateoftheart digital projection.
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