Film review--'A Letter from an Unknown Woman' (2005)

'A Letter from an Unknown Woman' is the directing tribute of famous actress Jinglei Xu in mainland China 2005. Adapted by Stefan Zweig (Austria writer 1881-1942) 's novel  of the same name, Jinglei switch the background to Beijing, the story starts from a cold winter in the year 1948. A man received a letter at his 41 years old birthday telling the love for him since the girl was 13, but he knows nothing about it. In the beginning of the film,The camera lingers on golden-hued shots of the letters and their elegant Chinese characters, among many letters pile in front of the man, there is one catches his attention. Thus, the voice-over of the female leading in the first person ensures the domination of the discourse power of the female character throughout the film. When she looks back upon the history between them, it appears that the girl shows the strong emotional dependence on the male character. No matter how contradictory it is in her inner world that even though by all means she tries to seduce the man, her inferiority and inhibition stops her saying her love out loud. Like the famous female writer Ailing Zhang said, when you get close to the ‘great lover’ in your mind, “you become lower and lower, until be buried into the ground.” In front of the deep-rooted paternity in the traditional culture she is unable to parry, as a result, she sacrifices her dignity, as well as the principal position of women against feudalism in this hopeless love. This film is serving as teaching material by negative example for feminism in Chinese history.

As a film adapted by a novel, the sex of the author became a fact that cannot be neglected during the research in regards to the relation between gender and the film itself. Some say the feminist point of view is counterfeit and Stefan virtually shaped an ideal female image for men. When recreating the story, it is not only the time and background has been changed, but also the feminist desire from a real woman. From her plain and calm confession it is easy to tell that all the things she has done is of her free will and no regret until she dies. Thus, it is her choice to refer herself to the male subject, instead of being restricted; it offers her a great psychological comfort and satisfactory base on the tribulation she is in. The influence of the traditional  patriarchal society is made evidence here.

Sexual relations between men and women are the most complicated nexuses in any time not merely because there are few rational considerations but it involves two parties with entire different mentalities. Modern sociologist Martha Nussbaum expounded her point of view in feminism in her book <Sex and Social Justice>: “liberalism emphasizes respect for others as individuals and further argues that A Alison Jaggar has elided the distinction between individualism and self-sufficiency.” In my opinion, the premise of feminism is always the  equality between the sexes  but it must be built on the fully understanding and respect of the disparities in mental and physical development. Instead of spreading the idea of ‘Feminism’ people in China overemphasize ‘Female liberation’ for decades , it is, by any means from the male’s point of view. At this stage, the women’s voices can only be heard by self-criticism in this land.