With joan fontaine, louis jourdan, mady christians, marcel journet. 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. As he prepares to leave town rather than face a duel, an aging pianist 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. David thomson explains why letter from an unknown woman still resonates today todays best video the week in tv. A pianist about to flee from a duel receives a letter from a woman he cannot remember, who may hold the key to his downfall. 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 official trailer joan. Letter from an unknown woman is the first max ophuls i have seen. Letter from an unknown woman 1948 the film spectrum. 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. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Pessin, erskine sanford, otto waldis, sonja bryden.
The film stars joan fontaine, louis jourdan, mady christians and marcel journet. This is best illustrated by the linz episode following lisas departure from. Sourced from a new 4k scan, this avcencoded 1080p 1. Pdf on sep 1, 1995, gaylyn studlar and others published. It is a collection of four novellas, written primarily in first person form. The film stars joan fontaine, louis jourdan, mady christians, and marcel journet.
The movie recreates with a gorgeous intensity the beginning of the 20th century in vienna. In vienna, about 1900, a dashing man arrives at his flat, instructing his manservant that he will leave before morning. Set in vienna in 1900, the story is told in a complex flashback structure as the pianist, stefan brand louis jourdan, comes upon a letter written to him by lisa berndl, a girl who has been in love with him for years. Watch the front row letter from an unknown woman the new. In flashbacks we see the lifelong passion of lisa berndle for him.
Letter from an unknown woman olive signature bluray. Letter from an unknown woman subtitles 60 subtitles. May 02, 2008 the luscious visual audacity of letter from an unknown woman makes masons case perfectly. If 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.
Written by howard koch and max ophuls, based on a novella by stefan zweig. A pianist about to flee from a duel receives a letter from a woman he cannot remember, who may hold the key to his. In a deliciously artificial findesiecle vienna concocted on a studio backlot, max ophuls conducts a veritable symphony of moving camerawork, turning stefan zweigs short story of consuming romantic delusion into a voluptuous tragedy begun when a young woman joan fontaine develops a consuming fascination with a concert pianist neighbor louis jourdan. 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 most famous is letter from an unknown woman, which leads off the collection, but i truthfully enjoyed all of them. The unknown woman is an ultimate enbodiment of unrequited love.
The film stars joan fontaine as lisa brendle, the impressionable and shy young woman whose fierce devotion to the object of her affection makes her more of a tragic figure than her early demise. The subject of this monograph is the 1948 film directed by max ophuls, letter from an unknown woman. Fontaine plays lisa at different stages at her life. A pianist about to flee from a duel receives a letter from a woman he cannot remember. 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. In it, i treat my subject from the point of view of philosophy.
Letter from an unknown woman is a 1948 american blackandwhite drama romance film. 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 woman s picture. 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. It was based on the novella of the same name by stefan zweig. Yonce girls joan smalls and chanel iman on season 3 premiere of well dunn with jourdan dunn.
Letter from an unknown woman used as script source the novel,brief einer unbekannten by stefan zweig. Letter from an unknown woman is a 1948 american drama romance film directed by max ophuls. Letter from an unknown woman 1948 official trailer joan fontaine, louis jourdan movie hd duration. I talk about the ideas in the film, and about the position it takes regarding one of the perennial questions of philosophy, one that is literally as old as plato. These four stefan zweig stories, newly translated by the awardwinning anthea bell, are among his most celebrated and compelling work. Legendary european director max ophuls deeplymoving, timeless film is considered his greatest and most successful american film but a film. His servant gives him a letter from an unknown woman, which he reads. 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. Max article, seventh art, the, marilyn goldin, 1964.
Letter from an unknown woman 1948 letter essentially follows the trajectory of a thomas hardy novel. 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. Just as intrigued as viewers, stefan dives into the letter over some coffee and cognac, and the narrative shifts to lisas story, signaled by a blurry flashback and fontaines narration. The kind of love which, if it doesnt bloom, it kills and gets killed, ending up in a waterloo that only big ideas can cause. Swift, swooping, dizzying, ophulss shooting style matches brilliantly the vertiginous melodrama of his. The luscious visual audacity of letter from an unknown woman makes masons case perfectly. View all letter from an unknown woman documentation on cinefiles. Letter from an unknown woman 1948 stream and watch. Letter from an unknown woman film at lincoln center.
Letter from an unknown woman is a 1948 film about a pianist about to flee from a duel who receives a letter from a woman he cannot remember, who may hold the key to his downfall. Letter from an unknown woman is one of the few films that can be said to be truly beautiful. Restored to the big screen, letter from an unknown woman still resonates today david thomson thu 28 jan 2010 17. Letter from an unknown woman was based on the novella of the same name, which was written by stefan zweig. As she tells the story of her lifelong love for him, he is forced to reinterpret his own past. Why you should see max ophulss reissued 1948 classic film.
It was based on the novella of the same name by stefan zweig in 1992, the film was selected for preservation by national film registry of the library of congress as being culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant. Letter from an unknown woman 1948 official trailer. Letter from an unknown woman 1948 stream and watch online. Lisa pines desperately, refuses the proposal of an honorable suitor, and abandons her parents all sacrifices made to her absurd romantic delusions. Joan fontaine, louis jourdan, mady christians, marcel journet, art smith, carol yorke, howard freeman, john good, leo b. In 1948, a film version was produced with a screenplay adaptation by howard koch. Letter from an unknown woman film 1948 candid photos. The film certainly gave me a lot of things to think about. Letter from an unknown woman 1948 turner classic movies. 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.
Pdf masochistic performance and female subjectivity in letter. In 1992, the film was selected for preservation by national film registry of the library of congress as being culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant. The classic letter from an unknown woman makes one. Golden age hollywood romance doesnt get much better than letter from an unknown woman, a powerful tale of doomed love.
The film letter from an unknown woman is such an icon of cinema scholarship that it is difficult to realize it was not well received when it first appeared in the spring of 1948. Letter from an unknown woman program note, internationales forum des jungen films, 1978. Letter from an unknown woman 1948 max ophuls synopsis. In a nutshell, i thought the screenplay and plot written by ophuls and howard e. 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. Koch which is based on the novella of the same name is good, but what makes the film special is ophuls direction and choice of camera movements and visual rhythm.
Elsewhere in the collection, a young man mistakes the girl he loves for her sister, two erstwhile. Stefan zweig letter from an unknown woman so much more than a love letter. 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. The film stars joan fontaine, louis jourdan, mady christians, and marcel journet in 1992, letter from an unknown woman was selected. The classic letter from an unknown woman makes one wonder. Letter from an unknown woman is one of the greatest films of the 40s, and therefore of all time. The double narrative, in cineaction toronto, springsummer 1993. Letter from an unknown woman the current the criterion. In 1992, letter from an unknown woman was selected for preservation in the united states national film registry by the library of congress as being. Yes, of course, the title tells us that the woman is supposed to be unknown but all of this and, yes, agreed, including news of the child is coming.
Sep 23, 2017 the film, letter from an unknown woman is a 1948 romantic drama directed by max ophuls. Jan 28, 2010 restored to the big screen, letter from an unknown woman still resonates today david thomson thu 28 jan 2010 17. The unknown woman, and writer of the letter, is lisa berndle joan fontaine, an ailing woman wanting to get a few important things off her chest. Finally, letter from an unknown woman has assumed a central place in the current canon of feminist film criticism. 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. Legendary european director max ophuls deeplymoving, timeless film is considered his greatest and most successful american film but a film unlike most hollywood films. The most famous is letter from an unknown woman, which leads off the collection, but i. Letter from an unknown woman 1948, max ophuls youtube. Mar 05, 2014 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. Street date december 5, 2017 available through the olive films website 29.
Mar 25, 2015 the german emigre director max ophulss romantic drama letter from an unknown woman, an 1948 adaptation of a novella by zweig, is equally anchored in both. We follow her from her teenage years all the way until the delivery of her letter to stefan. Nov 11, 2012 letter from an unknown woman used as script source the novel,brief einer unbekannten by stefan zweig. With joan fontaine, louis jourdan, mady christians production company. Its recognized as such now, having been drafted into the national film registry quite early 1992. The titular tale is a devastating depiction of unrequited love, which inspired a classic hollywood film, directed by max ophuls and starring joane fontaine. Download letters from a known woman joan fontaine ebook.
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