''The Letter'' (french: La Lettre, pt, A Carta) is a 1999 French-Portuguese drama film directed by Manoel de Oliveira. It tells the story of a married woman who has feelings for another man, and who confesses her feelings to her friend, a

cloister A cloister (from Latin ''claustrum'', "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against a ...

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

. The film is loosely based on the 1678 French novel '' The Princess of Cleves'' by

Madame de Lafayette Marie-Madeleine Pioche de La Vergne, Comtesse de La Fayette (baptized 18 March 1634 – 25 May 1693), better known as Madame de La Fayette, was a French writer; she authored ''La Princesse de Clèves'', France's first historical novel and one ...

. The film was entered into the 1999 Cannes Film Festival where it won the

Jury Prize A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence and render an impartial verdict (a finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Juries developed in England duri ...

Synopsis

This adaptation of the novel The Princess of Cleves is about the thwarted love of Catherine of Chartres who, after a disappointment in love, decides to marry a very famous doctor, Jacques de Cleves, without feeling any love for him. As a result, she falls in love with a fashionable singer, Pedro Abrunhosa. Before his death, Catherine's mother tries to separate her from the man she is in love with. After her mother's death, she finds herself torn between her desire to be with this singer and her desire to be faithful to her husband. A religious friend, to whom she confides, tries to help her to sort things out.

Cast

* Chiara Mastroianni as Mme de Clèves *

Pedro Abrunhosa Pedro Machado Abrunhosa (born 20 December 1960) is a Portuguese singer, songwriter, musician and composer. Trained in jazz music, Abrunhosa started his career in the 1980s playing in jazz bands and teaching in music and art schools in Porto. He ...

as Pedro Abrunhosa * Antoine Chappey as M. de Clèves *

Leonor Silveira Leonor da Silveira Moreno e Lemos Gomes (born 28 October 1970) is a Portuguese film actress who made her film debut in '' The Cannibals'' for director Manoel de Oliveira in 1988. She appeared in most of Oliveira's subsequent films. She is the ...

as La religieuse *

Françoise Fabian Michèle Cortes (born 10 May 1933), known professionally as Françoise Fabian (), is a French film actress. She has appeared in more than 100 films since 1956. In 1971, Fabian signed the Manifesto of the 343 The Manifesto of the 343 (), was a F ...

as Mme de Chartres *

Maria João Pires Maria João Alexandre Barbosa Pires (; born 23 July 1944) is a Portuguese classical pianist, widely regarded as one of the leading interpreters of Mozart, Beethoven and Chopin. Early life and education Pires was born in Lisbon, Portugal, a posthu ...

as Maria João Pires * Anny Romand as Mme de Silva *

Luís Miguel Cintra Luís Miguel Valle Cintra (born 29 April 1949) is a Portuguese actor. He has appeared in more than 60 films since 1970. In 1973 Cintra founded the Teatro da Cornucópia with Jorge Silva Melo. Selected filmography * ''A Ilha dos Amores'' (1982) ...

as M. Da Silva *

Stanislas Merhar Stanislas Merhar (born 24 January 1971) is a French actor. He was born in Paris in a family of immigrants from Slovenia. He works in cinema, television and theatre. In 1998 Merhar won the César Award for Most Promising Actor for his role in the ...

as François de Guise * Claude Lévèque as Le médecin de Mme de Chartres * Ricardo Trêpa as Intrus *

Alain Guillo Alain may refer to: People * Alain (given name), common given name, including list of persons and fictional characters with the name * Alain (surname) * "Alain", a pseudonym for cartoonist Daniel Brustlein * Alain, a standard author abbreviation u ...

as Le directeur de Jouillerie * Jean-Loup Wolff as Le médecin de l'hôpital *

Alexandre Nanaia Alexandre may refer to: * Alexandre (given name) * Alexandre (surname) * Alexandre (film) See also

* Alexander * Xano (disambiguation), a Portuguese hypocoristic of the name "Alexandre" {{Disambig ...

* Marcel Terroux as Le Jardinier

References

External links

* * 1999 films 1990s French-language films 1990s Portuguese-language films 1999 drama films Films based on works by Madame de La Fayette Films directed by Manoel de Oliveira French multilingual films Portuguese multilingual films 1990s French films {{1990s-France-film-stub