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  • Letter from an Unknown Woman

    Letter from an Unknown Woman by Naremore, James;

    Series: BFI Film Classics;

      • GET 20% OFF

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      • Publisher's listprice GBP 12.99
      • The price is estimated because at the time of ordering we do not know what conversion rates will apply to HUF / product currency when the book arrives. In case HUF is weaker, the price increases slightly, in case HUF is stronger, the price goes lower slightly.

        6 574 Ft (6 261 Ft + 5% VAT)
      • Discount 20% (cc. 1 315 Ft off)
      • Discounted price 5 259 Ft (5 009 Ft + 5% VAT)

    6 574 Ft

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    Availability

    Estimated delivery time: In stock at the publisher, but not at Prospero's office. Delivery time approx. 3-5 weeks.
    Not in stock at Prospero.

    Why don't you give exact delivery time?

    Delivery time is estimated on our previous experiences. We give estimations only, because we order from outside Hungary, and the delivery time mainly depends on how quickly the publisher supplies the book. Faster or slower deliveries both happen, but we do our best to supply as quickly as possible.

    Product details:

    • Publisher British Film Institute
    • Date of Publication 25 March 2021
    • Number of Volumes Paperback

    • ISBN 9781839022340
    • Binding Paperback
    • No. of pages104 pages
    • Size 188x134x6 mm
    • Weight 166 g
    • Language English
    • Illustrations 50 bw
    • 190

    Categories

    Short description:

    A study of Max Ophuls' 1948 melodrama Letter from an Unknown Woman in the BFI Film Classics series, by eminent film scholar James Naremore.

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    Long description:

    James Naremore's study of Max Ophuls' classic 1948 melodrama, Letter from an Unknown Woman, not only pays tribute to Ophuls but also discusses the backgrounds and typical styles of the film's many contributors--among them Viennese author Stephan Zweig, whose 1922 novella was the source of the picture; producer John Houseman, an ally of Ophuls who nevertheless made questionable changes to what Ophuls had shot; screenwriter Howard Koch; music composer Daniéle Amfitheatrof; designers Alexander Golitzen and Travis Banton; and leading actors Joan Fontaine and Louis Jourdan, whose performances were central to the film's emotional effect.

    Naremore also traces the film's reception history, from its middling box office success and mixed early reviews, exploring why it has been a work of exceptional interest to subsequent generations of both aesthetic critics and feminist theorists.

    Lastly, Naremore provides an in-depth critical appreciation of the film, offering nuanced appreciation of specific details of mise-en-scene, camera movement, design, sound, and performances, integrating this close analyses into an overarching analysis of Letter's "recognition plot;" a trope in which the recognition of a character's identity creates dramatic intensity or crisis. Naremore argues that Letter's use of recognition is one of the most powerful in Hollywood cinema, and contrasts it with what we find in Zweig's novella.

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    Table of Contents:

    1. Acknowledgements
    2. Introduction
    3. Production
    4. Reception
    5. Critical Appreciation
    6. Notes
    7. Credits
    8. Bibliography

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