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Movies / Upcoming / The Last Letter
The Last Letter

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The Last Letter (2003)

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Reviews Counted:11

Fresh:11

Rotten:0

Average Rating:7.5/10

Rated: Not Rated

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Jan 29, 2003 Limited

Synopsis: In 1941, a Russian Jewish woman doctor lives in a small city in the Ukraine just seized by the Germans. She writes a last letter to her son, a famous Russian physicist who lives and works far from... In 1941, a Russian Jewish woman doctor lives in a small city in the Ukraine just seized by the Germans. She writes a last letter to her son, a famous Russian physicist who lives and works far from the front lines at a Soviet science research institute. She writes the letter a few days before she knows she and the other Jews in the city will be killed by the Germans. She speaks of her life, her relationship to her son, her love for him, her student life in Paris, her failed marriage. She recounts the reaction of her Russian and Ukrainian neighbors to the arrival of the Germans, the various responses of the Jewish community, the cruelty and horrors of the occupation, the help of some Russian neighbors, the greed and indifference of others, and her slow recognition that her Jewish heritage is more important to her than her Russian nationality or Communist ideology. The letter, with its detailed observations of daily life in the ghetto, reveals the fear, courage, frailty, compassion and dignity of this woman as she reviews her life and faces her death. -- © Zipporah Films [More]

Starring: Catherine Samie

Starring: Catherine Samie

Director: Frederick Wiseman

Director: Frederick Wiseman
Studio: Zipporah Films

[See More Credits]

Reviews for The Last Letter

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1 - 13 (sorted by date)
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N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
02/09/06
Geoff Andrew
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: New York Magazine | comment Comment
08/07/04
Peter Rainer
Peter Rainer
New York Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Samie, a leading light in the highly respected French theatrical academy, the Comedie Francaise, speaks with a broad range of subtlety and outbursts of emotion. And those words are powerful.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
12/12/03
Desson Thomson
Desson Thomson
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

First staged by Wiseman with France's acclaimed Comedie-Francaise, it has now been brought to the screen with all its devastating power intact.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
04/27/03
Shlomo Schwartzberg
Shlomo Schwartzberg
Boxoffice Magazine

It is hard to measure this production by the same standards as a feature film.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
02/03/03
Mark R. Leeper
Mark R. Leeper
rec.arts.movies.reviews

Through Catherine Samie's extraordinary performance -- she's an actress with the Comédie-Française -- Wiseman seems to conjure the ghost of a living being, and then to record her stalking.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
02/01/03
Maria Garcia
Maria Garcia
Film Journal International

Private grief seems to unintentionally dwarf public horror.

Full Review Source: Long Island Press | comment Comment
01/31/03
Prairie Miller
Prairie Miller
Long Island Press

A shattering adaptation of one chapter from Life and Fate.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
01/29/03
Ken Fox
Ken Fox
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Mr. Wiseman's stubbornness is manifest in his work, and you will fall for the same quality in The Last Letter if you have any affection for his past work.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
01/29/03
Elvis Mitchell
Elvis Mitchell
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

In a tour-de-force performance, Samie conveys volumes with her powerful voice.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
01/29/03
Lou Lumenick
Lou Lumenick
New York Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Primal in its effect, The Last Letter demonstrates the power of language, performance, and narrative to hold an audience spellbound.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
01/28/03
J. Hoberman
J. Hoberman
Village Voice
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Wiseman's spare, elegant presentation does justice to the complex, passionate performance by the Comedie-Française's Catherine Samie.

Full Review Source: eye WEEKLY | comment Comment
10/02/02
Jason Anderson
Jason Anderson
eye WEEKLY

Preserves for posterity a superb performance by Catherine Samie.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
09/17/02
Frank Scheck
Frank Scheck
Hollywood Reporter
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
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