The Letter

The Letter

1999 · 107 min · ★ 6.0 · Drama

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.

Directed by Manoel de Oliveira · Written by Manoel de Oliveira

Your Rating

Where to Watch

Streaming

Cast

Chiara Mastroianni Mme de Clèves
Pedro Abrunhosa Pedro Abrunhosa
Antoine Chappey M. de Clèves
Leonor Silveira La religieuse
Maria João Pires Maria João Pires
Luís Miguel Cintra M. da Silva
Stanislas Merhar François de Guise
Ricardo Trêpa Intrus
Anny Romand Mme de Silva
Françoise Fabian Mme de Chartres
Alain Guillo Le directeur de Jouillerie
Claude Lévèque Le médecin de Mme de Chartres

Make it a double feature

5h 11m together

The Letter

Abraham's Valley

Both from Manoel de Oliveira.

More from Manoel de OliveiraSee all →

Fátima Milagrosa

Fátima Milagrosa · 1928

Fátima Milagrosa

MovieFamilyDrama

Aninhas (Aida Lupo), a paralyzed girl, asks for a miracle from the saint of her devotion, Our Lady of Lourdes, at the chapel of Penha (Guimarães), but her prayer is not heard - She turns her devotion to the Blessed Virgin directly, and joins the multitude that goes on a pilgrimage to the village where, ten years before, the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to three child sheepherders.

Zona+

Aniki-Bóbó

Aniki-Bóbó · 1942

MovieDramaFamily

Two schoolboys, Carlitos and Eduardo, fight for the affection of a girl, Teresinha.

Famalicão

Famalicão · 1941

MovieDocumentary

Short documentary about the town of Famalicão, in the North of Portugal.

Abraham's Valley

Abraham's Valley · 1993

Abraham's Valley

Ema is a very attractive but innocent girl, so pretty that cars crash in her presence. In her youth she marries Dr. Carlos Paiva, her father's friend, to whom she is not attracted. They move to the valley of Abraham. Carlos loves her, but decides to sleep in a separate room to avoid waking Ema when he has to return late at night. As time goes by she begins to feel unhappy about her marriage, so she finds a new lover.

Doomed Love

Doomed Love · 1979

MovieRomanceDrama

A story about doomed love between two people from different worlds and the impact in their lives.

The Green Years

The Green Years · 1963

The Green Years

Nineteen-year-old Julio heads to Lisbon from the provinces and gets a job as a shoemaker for his uncle Raul. But when he meets Ilda, a confident young housemaid who becomes a regular shop visitor, his working-class values collide with the bourgeois trappings of modern life.

I’m Going Home

I’m Going Home · 2001

I’m Going Home

The comfortable daily routines of aging Parisian actor Gilbert Valence, 76, are suddenly shaken when he learns that his wife, daughter, and son-in-law have been killed in a car crash. Having to take care of his now-orphaned grandson, he struggles to go on with his lifelong acting career like he's used to. But the roles he is offered -- a flashy TV show and a hectic last-minute replacement in an English-language film of Joyce's Ulysses -- finally convince him that it's time to retire.

Doomed Love

Doomed Love · 1978

A story about doomed love between two people from different worlds and the impact in their lives. Based on the novel of the same name by Portuguese writer Camilo Castelo Branco.

A Talking Picture

A Talking Picture · 2003

A Talking Picture

MovieDramaHistory

A meditation on civilization. July, 2001: friends wave as a cruise ship departs Lisbon for Mediterranean ports and the Indian Ocean. On board and on day trips in Marseilles, Pompeii, Athens, Istanbul, and Cairo, a professor tells her young daughter about myth, history, religion, and wars. Men approach her; she's cool, on her way to her husband in Bombay. After Cairo, for two evenings divided by a stop in Aden, the captain charms three successful, famous (and childless) women, who talk with wit and intellect, each understanding the others' native tongue, a European union. The captain asks mother and child to join them. He gives the girl a gift. Helena sings. Life can be sweet.

The Divine Comedy

The Divine Comedy · 1991

The Divine Comedy

In a mental institution the patients see themselves as people like Jesus, Lazarus, Martha, Mary, Adam, Eve, Sonia, Raskolnikov, Aliosha e Ivan Karamasov, a Philosopher, a Profet, Santa Teresa d'Avila, reciting the Divine Comedy.

Gebo and the Shadow

Gebo and the Shadow · 2012

Gebo and the Shadow

Despite his age and general weariness, Gebo keeps on working as an accountant to provide for his family. He lives with his wife, Doroteia, and his daughter-in-law, Sofia, but it is the absence of João, son and husband, that worries them.Gebo seems to be hiding something, especially to Doroteia, who is anxiously waiting to see her son again. Sofia is also waiting for her husband to come home, and yet she fears him. All of a sudden, João arrives and everything changes.

The Uncertainty Principle

The Uncertainty Principle · 2002

The Uncertainty Principle

Having lost her place among the social elite, a widow remarries and starts a family.

Party

MovieDramaComedy

The battle of the sexes? The forces of despair and seduction? On S. Miguel in the Azores, Rogério, a young man with old money, and his enigmatic wife Leonor host a garden party at their villa. The intriguing guests are an older unmarried couple, the philosophical and observant Irene, and Michel, a roué. While Rogério and Irene talk, Michel and Leonor go down to the sea. The conversations upset Rogério and capture Leonor's imagination. Five years later, the four dine at the villa. Michel and Leonor again leave the other two. Intentions and undercurrents are subtle. One of the four proves strong, one weak, and two must choose. Wind and rain bring down the curtain on both acts.

To Each His Own Cinema

To Each His Own Cinema · 2007

To Each His Own Cinema

MovieComedyDrama

Commissioned to mark the 60th anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival, "To Each His Own Cinema" brought together 33 of the world's pre-eminent filmmakers to produce short pieces exploring the multifarious facets of cinema and their perspective on the state of their chosen artform in the early 21st century.

No, or the Vain Glory of Command

No, or the Vain Glory of Command · 1990

No, or the Vain Glory of Command

Episodes from throughout the entire military history of Portugal are told through flashbacks as a conscripted student of history recounts them to his fellow soldiers while they march through an African colony in revolt during 1973.

More Like This

Couldn't load this row right now.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter