Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948)

Max Olphus is a director who influenced many of my favourites including Stanley Kubrick, Wes Anderson and Paul Thomas Anderson. I like his personal manifesto on filmmaking in how it's an artform that has the unique aspect of a moving camera so he uses it frequently. As such, my first Ophuls film, Letter From An Unknown Woman is beautiful for its sweeping camera-work. It's so wonderfully rich and textured that it adds such bittersweet heartache to its tragedy. It's such bliss to just let it roll over you. Unfortunately, the characters it utilises are painfully bland. The only interesting thing about them is their interest in each other, otherwise they seem too picturesque and idyllic that they're difficult to believe as authentic people. The story is efficient but not particularly remarkable, excusable if the characters were strong enough. It's the one thing letting the film down because otherwise it would've easily been one of my favourites. Hopefully other Ophuls has more interesting character work.8/10

Letter from and Unknown Woman is a film that I would strongly recommend watching twice, and with as open a mind as possible. As a modern woman— with some admittedly strong feminist sensibilities—I was infuriated by Lisa's character the first time I watched this movie. While indubitably romantic and admirable in her persistence as a girl and young woman, Lisa seemed pathetic by the end of the film when she leaves a loving husband and child for a man who has never loved, valued or respected her enough to even remember having met her in the past. Similarly, I could not find a way to empathize or relate to Stephan's character. I feel like Ophüls ignored him in order to more deeply delve into Lisa's psyche, an understandable choice, but one that resulted in a rather flat male lead. At the end of the film, Stephan reads Lisa's letter and is so guilt-ridden over his treatment of her that he chooses to face her husband rather than run away from their duel as he had intended. This is a pivotal moment in the plot, but I found it impossible to believe that someone who had been so consistently self-serving and careless his entire life could have such a drastic change of character. Further-more, because Stephan is so undeveloped, the viewer can't fully sympathize with Lisa's infatuation with him, and she accordingly appears more like a lovelorn teenager than a passionate, committed woman. Her sacrifices for Stephan would be, if not justified, at least understandable if he had been a more admirable man.Despite my reservations with regard to the plot, the reason I recommend a second viewing is the brilliance and artistry of Ophüls' direction and thematic choices. Throughout the film he uses similar camera angles, language and actions to create a repetitive, illusory sensation that mimics Lisa's delusions about her relationship with Stephan. When the two are riding the "train" in the Prater and visiting various "countries," a scene that is already a clear metaphor of Lisa's self deception, Stephan tells the park operators to start over after they have gone through all of the countries with the line "we will revisit the scenes of our youth." Another instance of this sort of repetition is the two train station scenes in which Lisa says goodbye to Stephan, and later to their son. In both instances, the characters claim that they will be together again in two weeks, a cruel irony as Lisa loses both of them. Lastly, the film is a frame story that begins and ends with Stephan reading Lisa's letter in his apartment. As the credits roll, the viewer is left with the impression that the story has come full circle, back to where it began, just as Lisa spent her lift in a cycle of pining after Stephan and never winning him. Letter from and Unknown Woman is a beautiful piece of art, despite some of its failings as a realistic portrayal of romance and human relationships.

Max Ophüls' film, Letter from an Unknown Woman, is tragic love story about a woman who becomes completely enchanted by her neighbor. Set in Vienna at the turn of the 20th century, the film encompasses the true culture and spirit going on in the city during this time. Although it ends in tragedy for all parties, one cannot ignore the undertones that speak to love and its consequences. While Ophüls' film may be old, I believe it is a timeless work of art that many people can still relate to their own lives. It begins when a man named Stephan Brand moves into his new house. He is a wonderful concert pianist that has an affinity for women, many different women. Lisa Berndle is his young naive neighbor who, after seeing his furniture being moved in, becomes immediately intrigued. From this point on her character is frequently portrayed making all attempts possible to hear Stephan's beautiful melodies floating from his piano into her apartment. Soon however Lisa's mother finds a man who she decides to marry, and the family is going to move to a new city. While waiting for the train with her family, Lisa's infatuation gets the best of her, and in a moment she is on her way back to her old home. When back in Vienna Lisa finds a job and makes daily attempts to get a glimpse of her secret love. When she finally manages to grab Stephan's attention, he manages to charm her even more, and that night they go out on a date. After a romantic dinner and night in the Vienna amusement park, they return to his apartment together and conceive a son. The following day, Stephan finds her working at the dress shop and asks to speak to her when she finishes work. Lisa soon finds out that he is leaving for a concert, but he promises that he will return to her in two weeks. Because of her blinding love for Stephan she trusts his word, but to her dismay he never returns to her. Eventually she moves on with life, marrying a military officer who loves her, supports her, and even takes her son in treating him as he would his own. Stephan enters the story again when the couple attends a concert one night. Lisa notices Stephan quickly and feels the passion returning, but does not want to recognize it so she pretends to be ill hoping to get home before he sees her. Perhaps she knew that if they meet again she would not be able to control her feelings, but Stephan eyes her leaving and catches her before she does. Once back at home with her husband, she realizes she must go see Stephan one more time. When they are together it seems for a small amount of time that he remembers who she is, but after Stephan uses the same lines he did before, she realizes that he has forgotten her. Knowing that her love was not returned she leaves before he can return with the drink he had promised her. Only when he receives a letter does he realize that she had been carrying his son and had loved him her entire life. Lisa's husband is knocking on the door as the movie comes to a close looking for a duel to defend the honor of his late wife and her dead son. It is only when Stephan realizes the folly of his ways that Stephan chooses to accept his fate and join his family in death.Though terribly sad and ironic, this film shows the true power of love, whether it is reciprocated or not. Lisa lived her whole life for Stephan, and in the end lost everything because of it. Stephan on the other hand never realized what he had in her until it was gone. After learning what he had done, he must have found that there was no reason to live any longer. Finally, the soldier who truly loved Lisa also realized that his love would never be enough, losing his wife to another man and ultimately to a terrible disease. Ophüls' film is a wonderful love story that illuminates the delights and perils that true love often contains.

There is nothing quite like unrequited love to focus the attention. As Somerset Maugham once said, "The love that lasts the longest, is the love that is never returned".And that is pretty much what this movie is all about. But what could have been a strange little movie about an unhealthy obsession instead becomes an unforgettable romantic masterpiece.The film is set in Vienna around 1900. Stefan Brand, a concert pianist played by Louis Jourdan in a role that perfectly suits his smooth good looks, receives a letter from a dying woman, Lisa Berndle, played by Joan Fontaine in a remarkable performance.In the letter, she pours out her love for him, which started when she was a young girl living in the same apartment building. Although she eventually left Vienna with her family, her love for Stefan never wavered.Years later, she returns to Vienna, and over a period of time has two brief affairs with him, although she realises that he has had affairs with many women and has forgotten her. She eventually marries an older man, but her love for Stefan blights her life and compromises her marriage. The film ends on a poignant note.The movie differs from Stefan Zweig's short story; it is as though the film adds flesh onto the bones of the original story - Stefan becomes a pianist instead of a novelist, and the filmmakers added the impending duel, which bookends the movie. The film is also set in an earlier period, which allowed for great use of gaslight, moody shadows and beautiful costumes. What a look this film has. Shot in black and white on mostly studio sets, it has a dreamlike quality that location shooting could never have achieved.The screenplay was by Howard Koch, and he deserves credit on two counts - he not only wrote the brilliant script, but also suggested Max Ophuls (spelt Opuls in the film's titles) for director.This may seem like sacrilege to some, but I think the movie has improved on Zweig's work. The short story has a lyrical quality, but it's very one note; the depth of Lisa's obsession is explored in detail, however it becomes repetitious; the ending is also far more uncompromising.In his autobiography, "As Time Goes By" Koch tells how Ophuls allowed him to finish the script unhindered, and then they tested every passage together to make sure it worked. Koch also praised Ophuls' mastery of the medium, which is evident in every scene.Koch also revealed that the studio, not fully appreciating what they had, cut the film heavily, which, in his opinion, actually made it seem longer because they cut out all the beautifully constructed connective material that made the film so seamless and flowing. Thankfully, Joan Fontaine and her husband, whose company produced the film, convinced the studio to restore the footage.Although it wasn't a success when first released, this haunting film is now recognised as a great work of cinematic art, and it repays every effort in seeking it out.