Yi ge mo sheng nu ren de lai xin (2004)

Director:

Jinglei Xu

Writers:

Jinglei Xu (writer)
Stefan Zweig (novel)

Release Date:

11 February 2005 (Spain)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Peking, 1948. A winter night. A man returns home to find a letter awaiting him written by a woman before her death...

Plot Keywords:

Based On Novel

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Jue Huang	...	The Officer / Captain Huang
Wen Jiang	...	Writer / Mr. Xu
Huang Jiao	...	Officer Huang
Yuan Lin	...	Girl
Enran Ma	...	Stepfather
Feihu Sun	...	Steward
Xiaoming Su	...	Mother
Zihao Su	...	Son
Jinglei Xu	...	Woman / Miss Jiang
Baomo Zhang	...	Landlady

Also Known As:

A Letter from an Unknown Woman (International: English title)

Runtime:

Turkey:89 min | Spain:90 min

Country:

China

Language:

Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Spain:18

Company:

Asian Union Film & Entertainment

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When the man brings the woman to his home in the "Six years later" segment (which takes place in the late 1930s), the woman brushes her hand against the spine of the second volume of the World Book Dictionary as she admires his books. The first edition of the dictionary was published in 1963.

Movie Connections:

References The Glass Key (1942)

It could be better...

Overall, it's a nice movie for Xu as her second movie as both the director and the leading actress. The adaptation is so natural that nobody would regard the story as a "non-Chinese" one. The music is great with Lin Hai, the outstanding composer. The sound of Pipa goes smoothly with the movie, typical Chinese which fits the time background. As for the actors...Well, here is by what I mean "it could be better". Jiang Wen isn't that suitable for this part as "the man", Xu Jinglei(the director herself) isn't mother-like enough for the part as "the woman". Some supporting roles are quite good, eg. the old servant... Voila.