SOURCE: "Max Ophuls's Letter from an Unknown Woman," in Modern Language Notes, Vol. 98, No. 5, December, 1983, pp. 1121-42.

In the following essay, Wilson explores cinematic techniques used by Ophuls's in Letter from an Unknown Woman.

It has been borne upon me this evening that perfect music has the same effect on the heart as the presence of the beloved. It gives, in fact, apparently more intense pleasure than anything else on earth.

. . . . .

The habit of listening to music and the state of reverie connected with it prepare you for falling in love.

Stendhal, De l'amour

In the first half of Max Ophuls' Letter from an Unknown Woman¹ there occurs a pair of shots, linked across distinct sequences, that seems paradigmatic of the methods and concerns of this strange and delicate film. The first of these two shots takes place when Lisa Berndle, having fled her family's departure for Linz...