Saturday, November 20, 2010

Max Ophuls' Letter From an Unknown Woman (1948)

It is turn-of-the-century Vienna, the wee hours of a wet night. A man alights from a horse-drawn carriage and jokes with companions about the duel at dawn to which he has been challenged. Entering his flat alone he tells his manservant he will leave before morning, "Honor is a luxury only gentlemen can afford." But the mute servant indicates a letter awaiting him and, as he prepares for his departure, the man opens it and begins to read...
"By the time you read this letter, I may be dead," it says, and the voice of a woman, the letter writer, begins to narrate her story.  Her tale unfolds in flashback as the man immerses himself in the letter.

Letter From an Unknown Woman tells of Lisa Berndle (Joan Fontaine) who, as an adolescent, becomes enthralled with up-and-coming concert pianist Stefan Brand (Louis Jourdan) when he moves into the building where she lives with her parents. Though the suave virtuoso is unaware of her, Lisa privately harbors a fantasy that they are destined to be together. Many years later their moment does come, but it is brief, Stefan is soon gone and Lisa is left with something more than her memories of him. Eventually she marries a wealthy man and years go by before, by chance, she and Stefan meet again. His has been a self-indulgent life and his career has failed, but Lisa is unable to resist and goes to him again in spite of an ultimatum from her husband. It is only then that she understands Stefan's true character. As Stefan, who has been sincerely moved by Lisa's story, comes to the end of her letter, he notices an official stamp on the last page and realizes its significance. By this time dawn has come and he makes another fateful decision.

The storyline may be melodrama, but this  lyrical, dream-weaving film is a keen reflection on love, illusion and human nature.
As the film moves from present to past to present again, it becomes clear that both Lisa and Stefan have lived lives steeped in unreality; Lisa by holding fast to her idealized vision of Stefan, and Stefan by relentlessly seeking his romantic ideal night to night. John, Stefan's mute valet, perhaps mirroring director Max Ophuls' viewpoint, observes the all-too-human folly around him and serves as a silent, compassionate witness.
Ophuls, known for his bold and graceful camera movement and use of extended takes, shapes Letter From an Unknown Woman with both sophistication and a light touch. Visually and structurally fluid throughout, the film seems to turn in elegant circles from beginning to end, subtly evoking themes enhanced rather than obscured by its glittering surface.

Produced by actor/producer John Houseman, screenplay by Howard Koch (Casablanca), cinematography by Franz Planer (Roman Holiday), edited by Ted Kent, with original music by Daniele Amfitheatrof (Song of the South) and gowns by Travis Banton. As characters undone by desire, both Joan Fontaine and Louis Jourdan achieve moving eloquence.

11 comments:

  1. thanx EVE..good straightforward post..i remember some dope saying that this was a remake of a STAHL film (i rarely beleve this stuff)..and LOUIS JOURDAN has always creeped me out since GIGI

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  2. plus...i always attributed CASABLANCA to the EPSTEIN brothers (forgot about old howard) and ANYTHING produced by JOHN HOUSEMAN WAS/IS EXCELLLENT!!!

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  3. Good to hear from you, Doctor...I always think of the Epsteins, too, on CASABLANCA, but they shared the Oscar with Howard Koch.
    And finally...your mention of this being a possible remake reminded me of something so I did a little research. LETTER was remade in 2004 by Chinese director Xu Jinglei (a woman) and she won a Best Director award for it at Spain's San Sebastian Int'l. Film Festival. I'm going to see if I can track it down.

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  4. Ladyeve, I have not seen what sounds like a very emotional film. Another wonderful film to add to my "gotta see" list.

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  5. Dawn - This is definitely an emotional film, but has such a delicacy that the emotion is not heavy-handed. It contains Joan Fontaine's finest performance and she has said that Ophuls directed her in German and though she didn't understand what he was saying, she completely understood what he meant. It was Fontaine and her then-husband Wm. Dozier's film company, Rampart Productions, that made the film, and Dozier was also a producer on it.

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  6. Eve, this is a lovely review of a lovely film. The story has stayed with me since I saw it aired on TCM earlier this year. Delicate is the perfect word to describe both the direction and performances of the film.

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  7. Eve, you did a wonderful job the first time around on this film, and this version is lovely. I saw the movie after you had first reviewed it, and it became one of my favorites. Now why Doc would think Louis Jourdan was creepy after seeing him in Gigi will forever remain a mystery to me. LOL.

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  8. I pared down the blog considerably...the aesthetic and emotional experience of watching a film of this calibre speaks entirely for itself! As for Doc...I can only imagine how he feels about James Mason after seeing him in LOLITA...

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  9. OK!!! IMHO!!! having read LOLITA B4 seeing the film, I thought the reserved/perplexed/baffled performance by JAMES MASON was perfect!! as for LOUIS JOURDAN...between his "winks" at the camera and "odd" mannerisms, he came of as somewhat of a PEDOPHILE!!! just my opinion!!!

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  10. Wow that really great news.Eve, this is a lovely review of a lovely film.Performance was done near to perfectionism.Really liked it

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  11. I just discovered your blog via twitter about 5 seconds ago and am already loving it. Letter from an Unknown Woman is a brilliant film. I've been watching quite a few Ophuls films lately, and recently posted about La Ronde (which, if you haven't seen it, I'd totally recommend!) :)

    Kendra
    vivandlarry.com

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