The Letter

This 1999 drama centers on Catherine, a beautiful, melancholy young woman married to a devoted physician for whom she feels only mild affection. Unexpectedly falling for poet and performance artist Pedro Abrunhosa, Catherine faces excruciating decisions about her future, especially as her husband’s health rapidly declines. Loosely based on Madame de Lafayette’s 1678 novel The Princess of Cleves, The Letter was critically acclaimed, earning the Jury Prize at Cannes in 1999.