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Letter from an Unknown Woman

1948 · TMDB 7.8

Directed by Max Ophüls

A pianist about to flee from a duel receives a letter from a woman he cannot remember. As she tells the story of her lifelong love for him, he is forced to reinterpret his own past.

Why it matters

Max Ophuls follows Lisa from adolescent infatuation with a pianist to a lifetime of loving him from a distance. The camera moves like memory itself, and the final letter reframes everything you have watched.

From The Melodrama They Never Let Us Keep

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