Letter from an Unknown Woman

 (1948)

Letter from an Unknown Woman Blu-ray delivers great video and solid audio in this enjoyable Blu-ray release
In Vienna, about 1900, a dashing man arrives at his flat, instructing his manservant that he will leave before morning: the man is Stefan Brand, formerly a concert pianist, planning to leave Vienna to avoid a duel. His servant gives him a letter from an unknown woman, which he reads. In flashbacks we see the lifelong passion of Lisa Berndle for him: first as a girl who was his neighbor; next as a young woman who, in secret, has his child; then as a mature woman who meets him again and abandons husband and son to be with him. Each time he does not remember who she is or that they have ever met. By morning, he has finished the letter, and her husband awaits satisfaction.

For more about Letter from an Unknown Woman and the Letter from an Unknown Woman Blu-ray release, see the Letter from an Unknown Woman Blu-ray Review

Starring: Joan Fontaine, Louis Jourdan, Mady Christians
Director: Max Ophüls

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Letter from an Unknown Woman Blu-ray Review

Having a horrible time. . .wish you were here.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman, October 18, 2012

The American film industry saw an incredible influx of émigrés from the early thirties through the mid to late forties, as the twin evils of Nazism and fascism took hold of Europe. Many top flight directors actually wandered their way through Europe for years before finally matriculating to the United States, and that was the case with Max Ophüls, one of the most technically demanding and innovative directors of his era, one whose commanding crane and dolly shots have entered the lexicon of classic film moments, but who is nonetheless still strangely underappreciated and even unknown by people who otherwise consider themselves well versed in classic film. Ophüls' quartet of best remembered films, La Ronde, Le Plaisir, The Earrings of Madame de. . . and his brilliant masterwork Lola Montès all came from the final few years of Ophüls' life, after he had returned to France, but his Hollywood career is really no less lustrous, even if it was distressingly brief. Probably the best of his Hollywood outings is the fascinating Letter From an Unknown Woman, a film which skirts with several shocking elements, including the infatuation of a minor for an older man and, later, of the seduction and resultant pregnancy of that same girl once she's at least a little older, but which retains a high gloss factor that places it firmly in the "women's picture" genre that was all the rage in the post-War era (rather strangely, the same time that saw the rise of macho noir fare). Once again Joan Fontaine's inherently innocent qualities are put to excellent use as she depicts a character who grows from young teen to womanhood, burning with an unrequited love for a wastrel who basically uses her and discards her, only to reconnect with her (twice, in fact) years later, not even remembering the earlier encounters he had had with her years before.



It's hard to imagine a film like Letter from an Unknown Woman being made today, not due to any outright questionable content, but for the very central fact that the film deals with a woman who more or less throws her life away on an impossible love. This is a film that is no doubt going to grate pretty unbearably on anyone (specifically women) who have a nascent feminist streak and feel that women are (or at least should be) in charge of their own destinies. Rather interestingly, that same argument is actually made late in the film, after Lisa (Joan Fontaine) has managed to extricate herself from being entangled with concert pianist Stefan (Louis Jourdan), albeit with an illegitimate child at her side, and her elderly husband (who knows about her past indiscretion) is cautioning her about throwing her whole life away when Stefan reenters the picture.

One of the major problems with the central plot conceit is there is really not enough information given as to what exactly draws Lisa to moon over Stefan so inconsolably, and from her young girlhood at that. We get a very quick set up with Stefan moving into the little apartment house where Lisa lives with her widowed mother (the always wonderful Mady Christians), and it's clear that Lisa is drawn to Stefan's incessant practicing (something that as a professional musician myself I can tell you residents in most apartment houses aren't exactly thrilled to be listening to at all hours of the day and night). But Lisa is also almost instantly aware that Stefan is a gadabout, a lothario who is hedonistic to the extreme and isn't shy about bringing any number of women back to his lair for not so secret dalliances.

The other major issue with the film is the simultaneous assertion that Stefan evidently suffers from some sort of pathological inability to remember Lisa, despite spending weeks (possibly months) with her at least once in her life, and having had run ins with her both in her youth and in her maturity. This convenient "amnesia" in fact is what spurs Lisa on to finally make a fateful decision which occurs at the climax of the film, but the entire set up here is so absurdly theatrical that it robs the film of any tether to reality.

Letter from an Unknown Woman kind of spills the emotional beans up front by being framed as a flashback, replete with Lisa's narration as Stefan, about the face a duel, is presented with the letter and begins to read it. What this does is present the audience with Lisa's impending mortality right off the bat, casting the entire enterprise with a tragic undercurrent that only makes Lisa's relentless obsession with Stefan all the more maddening. But this is after all a film that is making absolutely no bones about being a "three hankie weeper", and Lisa's tragic decisions ripple through her life with several unintended consequences. Rather ironically, the character of Stefan is completely static: he's a ne'er-do-well when we meet him, and if he's not quite as slimy in his relative youth, the first flashbacks reveal that he has some apparently intrinsic character flaws.

Despite these issues, all of which spring from well worn dramatic tropes that were very much in vogue when this film was made, Letter from an Unknown Woman is a wonderful piece of entertainment. It has absolutely no semblance to reality in any way, shape or form, but it's a magnificent showcase for Fontaine, and Ophüls' brilliant technique is firmly on display. Note the director's incredible use of tracking and dolly shots, several of which pass "through" walls and follow characters as they move from exterior to interior or from room to room. Perhaps more importantly than these "mere" camera moves, though, is Ophüls' management of the performances. Jourdan probably has the harder role here, dancing a fine line with a character who is unlikable in the extreme but who in Jourdan's hands remains at least tangentially sympathetic (or at least not totally abhorrent). Fontaine evinces the same dewy, doe eyed fragility that she did so very well, something which serves the film's abiding tragic ambience extremely well.

Letter from an Unknown Woman Blu-ray, Video Quality

 

Letter from an Unknown Woman is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films with an AVC encoded 1080p in 1.33:1. Franz Planer's lustrous black and white cinematography is very well served by this often resplendent high definition presentation. Planer and Ophüls play with light and shadow throughout the film, and the wonderful chiaroscuro ambience looks really nicely sharp and well detailed throughout this presentation. The elements here are in very good shape, much better than some other recent catalog releases of the same general vintage we've seen from Olive. Contrast is strong and consistent and as with most Olive releases, no digital tweaking of any kind has affected the film's natural grain structure.

Letter from an Unknown Woman Blu-ray, Audio Quality

 

Letter from an Unknown Woman features a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio Mono mix that nicely reproduces Daniele Amfitheatrof gorgeous Romantic score which includes a lot of piano cues (it must be stated that Louis Jourdan is perhaps the worst "finger syncher" of all time as he pretends to play the piano in several scenes). Dialogue is very clean and precise sounding, with Fontaine's omnipresent narration sounding great. The track has a certain age related boxiness but generally sounds quite spry considering its vintage.

Letter from an Unknown Woman Blu-ray, Special Features and Extras

 

No supplements of any kind are included on this Blu-ray disc.

Letter from an Unknown Woman Blu-ray, Overall Score and Recommendation

 

Letter from an Unknown Woman is an unabashed melodrama and it may bother some contemporary types who may find the film's presentation of a "helpless" female hopelessly in love with a man who can't even remember her patently objectionable. But if you put the film in its historical context and simply enjoy it for the glossy entertainment it undeniably is, there's a lot to like about it, not the least of which is Fontaine's beauty and grace and Ophüls' commanding technique. This is the sort of film they don't (and probably couldn't) make anymore, a big, romantic tragedy that probably left its female audience in abject tears when it was first released. Current day cynics may not be especially moved by something as glossy as Letter from an Unknown Woman is, but they still should be able to admire its impeccable craft. This Blu-ray looks great and sounds fine. Recommended.