A work in constant progress (and occasional regress).
Release Date:
September 22, 1999
Original Title:
La Lettre
Alternate Titles:
A Carta
Genres:
Drama
Production Companies:
Gemini Films
Madragoa Filmes
Wanda Films
Production Countries:
France | Portugal | Spain
Ratings / Certifications:
N/A
Runtime: 107
A well-bred, lovely, spiritual, sad young woman marries an attentive physician who loves her. She feels affection but no love. Soon after, without design, she falls in love with Pedro Abrunhosa, a poet and performance artist. He also loves her. She keeps her distance from him, confessing her love to a friend who is a nun and, later, to her husband. Hunger for her love and jealousy consume him; she attends him as he wastes away. With his death, she can marry and express her passion, but what she does and how she explains herself, particularly to her cloistered friend, is at the heart of the film. Glimpses of convent life and of Abrunhosa on stage give contrast and mute comment.
Costume Design:
Judy Shrewsbury
Director:
Manoel de Oliveira
Director of Photography:
Emmanuel Machuel
Editor:
Valérie Loiseleux
Makeup Artist:
Emmanuelle Fèvre
Producer:
Paulo Branco
Production Design:
Ana Vaz da Silva
Screenplay:
Manoel de Oliveira
Set Decoration:
Ann Chakraverty
Sound Designer:
Jean-Paul Mugel
Sound Mixer:
Jean-François Auger
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