The Max Ophüls Approach to Adaptation

Originally published in Germany in 1924, several of Béla Balázs’ writings on early film theory have

recently been republished and are once again shedding light on the development of film as its own

unique art form. In the earliest paragraphs of Visible Man (1924), Balázs states his position on the

nature of different artistic phenomena and says that:

It is the specifics of a phenomenon that constitute the essence and its justification, and

the specific nature of a phenomenon is best defined by what makes it different. i.

This idea was the basis for most Balázs' analysis of early films and while some 1920s film -makers

had a similar philosophy and used the medium to tell stories in a different way, the emphasis that

Balázs placed on cinema as a new and unique art form has largely been ignored. This essay aims to

apply Balázs' ideas to Max Ophüls' film Letter From an Unknown Woman (1948), and to analyse

the changes that it was necessary for Ophüls to make in order to effectively adapt the Stefan Zweig

short story for a completely different medium.

In the original short story of Letter From an Unknown Woman, Zweig writes about a successful

writer identified as R., who returns to his apartment to find the mysterious letter waiting for him.

The remainder of the story is primarily the content of this letter which is from an unnamed woman

that lived in his apartment block as a girl and spent most of her life in love with him. After her

account of fifteen years or so of infatuation, and a number of sexual encounters with R., the woman

finishes the letter by informing the writer that she bore his child. Her final words to him are that the

child died of influenza which she herself has now contracted, indicating that she would most likely

be dead by the time he read the letter. At this point in the short story, we return to R's perspective for

the first time since the opening paragraphs and find him relatively unaffected by what has just read.

The story ends with him failing to recall this particular woman among his multitude of sexual

conquests.
This strength of Stefan Zweig's short story is in the quality of his writing. Zweig's moving prose is

his method of constructing a narrative with a dramatic tension for the reader to engage with, but it is

the words on the page that are responsible for maintaining this engagement. This is not the case

with a film. Balázs states that:

A writers success depends on the power and subtlety of his writing. The artistic nature of

film resides in the power and subtlety of its images and its gestural language. ii

I believe that this line of thinking was fundamental to Ophüls approach when adapting Letter From

an Unknown Woman, as it also was to the screenwriter of the project Howard Koch. Koch had

already been a well established screenwriter by the time he signed on to pen the film and his

experience with adaptation was essential to the project's success. Koch had previously co -written

Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1943), which was an adaptation of a Murray Burnett and Joan Alison

play called Everybody Comes to Rick's.

While theatre is also a visual medium to an extent, it is still a written text that is just being presented

to us by performers. Balzas discusses this too, stating that:

We can hear the author's words and what he means to say and we can see whether the

the director and actors are accurately representing them or not. The latter are merely

interpretors of a text to which we have access to the original, through their performance. iii

In the case of theatre, the image is static. The actors are on a stage with a set and they are

performing but it is not a moving image. As Balázs stated, they are delivering to us the author's

original text, but in a film the original text is invisible. Aside from the dialogue, which is of course

spoken by the actors, a film is a visual experience.

Koch's work on Casablanca prepared him for the task of tackling Letter under the direction of

Ophüls, who has a stringent stance on the importance of the image. In Koch's autobiography As

Time Goes By, he discussed the lack of what he described as 'visual proof' in Casablanca.iv What
this means is that there were elements of the story that may have been suggested by dialogue but

were not conveyed effectively through through images. Take for example the pivotal scene in which

Rick allows the house band playing 'La Marseillais' in his cafe. This moment marked a huge

progression in the transformation of Rick's character and it is not achieved with a line of dialogue,

but instead with Rick nodding his head. Images such as this are the sort of visual proof that Koch

wanted to use the medium of cinema for and it was what he wanted to bring to the script for Letter

too.

Initially, there was a script that was very faithful to the story, however Ophüls insisted that he and

Koch completely rework it, in order to make room for appropriate cinematic tension. v In literature, a

story does have tension but it is presented in a much different manner. Zweig's appeal to the reader's

emotions is through the power of the language used by the woman in the letter. We see the world

almost exclusively through her eyes and the reader's predominant emotion is pity for the tragedy of

her life. Koch and Ophüls aimed to replicate this tension visually and with the story having two

main characters, the film has two levels of tension instead of one. Firstly, I will discuss our

relationship with the titular woman, who is known as Lisa in the film. Ophüls and the film's

producer John Houseman agreed that while the story was suited to the page, it was not suited to the

visual realism of the screen. Their consensus was that the letter wasn't reproachful in nature but was

instead an expression of gratitude for the years of love that R. had given her. vi Ophüls did not want

to tell such a sentimental story that focused on the eternal devotion of an unseen woman to a

narcissistic man who had no feelings for her apart from sexual need. He instead wished to explore

the inevitable tragedy of a woman living in a fanciful world with no basis in reality. In order to do

this, Lisa's fantasy world had to be visually contrasted with the harsh reality of the world as it is.

This gives us out first level of tension, as we are now experiencing a reality while also experiencing

one of our main character's failure to acknowledge this reality. Compared to the story, where the
tension depends on the reader being moved by the sincerity and pathos of the letter's tragic story,

this tension is reliant on Lisa's narration combined with images of the truth she fails to see. Our

desire for Lisa to snap out of her fantasy world is an effective tension and was also an impossibility

in the short story as our views came from what Lisa had written in the letter, and our only glimpse

into how the real world differed from the letter was through R.’s indifference after reading it. In the

film, Ophüls was able to contrast illusion and reality directly on the screen and did so in several

ways. We see it early in the film when Lisa is still a teenager. In the early stages of her devotion to

the her new neighbour, who is a pianist known as Stefan in the film, there is a scene in which she

sits on a swing outside their apartment building listening to him play. Lisa is seen to be in a state of

pure euphoria as she listens, but the image of her on the swing is carefully juxtaposed with images

of Stefan and his true nature while playing.

In reality, Stefan is attempting to play Liszt’s Concert Etude but repeatedly making mistakes and

eventually giving up. This scene lasts for a matter of minutes and perfectly conveys the disconnect

between fantasy and reality. Meanwhile the story has the freedom of allowing for passages such as

this one:

Soon I was familiar with your regular visitors and had my likes and dislikes among

them My every waking hour was yours. What follies did I not commit? I kissed the door

handle you had touched; I picked up a cigarette end you had thrown away and it was

sacred to me because your lips had pressed it. I ran out into the street to see in which room

your light was burning so that I could be fully conscious of your invisible presence.

This is effective writing but impossible to replicate on screen in its entirety. The minor scene

mentioned above accomplishes the same function as this passage and also shows the contrasting

reality of Stefan's true nature. Balázs discusses this style of film -making in his chapter on 'The

Direction of Images,' in which he states that:

The technique of interpolating images means that a film has to contain two, three or even
 more parallel stories whose lines become interwoven.vii

In a sense, Ophüls takes this even further in Letter than simply interweaving the parallel stories.

The tension in Lisa's story is created by the presence of Stefan's story. Stefan's story, which I will

discuss in more detail later, is given less attention than Lisa's, however it is parallel, and it is

essential to our interpretation of Lisa's actions. On the surface of the aforementioned scene is a

teenage girl falling in love with a talented, respectable, older man. But by interweaving the shots of

Stefan failing to play the instrument that has earned him his acclaim, the scene of Lisa's infatuation

takes on a new meaning. Instead of a young girl star-struck by an admirable man, she is a naïve,

vulnerable child that is blind to the true, sinister nature of a manipulative man. It is made clear that

Lisa’s opinion of Stefan as a great musician is illusory and in fact he is largely wasting his talent in

favour of seeking out women to seduce. Contrasting the scene with the words of the characters is a

common technique in Ophüls films. Ophüls dedication to effectively conveying the extent of Lisa’s

fantasy in this scene (among others) is evident from the detail in his and Koch’s reworked script.

Every single shot of both Lisa and Stefan during those brief moments on screen is meticulously

explained over the course of multiple pages. viii

For example, There is also a stark contrast at the beginning of the film between Lisa’s reaction to

Stefan’s possessions and the removal men who are carrying them into the house. Lisa wonders

about her ‘new neighbour who owned such beautiful things,’ while the moving men recognize that

the items which include an antique lyre and an ornate mirror, are bric-a-brac and gaudy. The lyre in

particular was included as Ophüls enjoyed puns, and wanted to subtly represent that a ‘liar’ was

moving into the apartment.ix This scene is our introduction to this disconnect in Lisa's mind and

from here our curiosity is piqued. Once this seed is planted the rest of the images must draw us

deeper into Lisa's fantasy world all while contrasting it with reality. On this idea, Balázs states:

Once our curiousity has been pointed in a certain direction, the images are simply
 threaded on in sequence. If that direction is lacking, the images fall apart like a broken

string of pearls.x

Ophüls would continue on this trajectory by creating more and more scenarios in which he could

seamlessly thread the images of fantasy and reality together.

At this point I think it's important to note that Koch did not ignore the necessity to make Lisa's

motivation as a character clear. He theorized that no matter how slight the story, the audience will

remain engaged should 'the motivations and actions of the characters remain credible in relation to

the circumstances surrounding their fictional lives'.xi The film is clear on Lisa's motivation, which is

her romantic fantasy, and it becomes credible because the viewer can witness how her fantasy leads

into inevitable tragedy. Because Koch paid attention to this detail, the film does not suffer for its

slow pace and methodical approach to reaching its resolution. Lisa’s actions and narration lead us to

believe that she views Stefan's love as something unconditional and perfect, but the viewer is shown

that each romantic scene is not what it first seems to be. Their second meeting, which in the short

story takes place over the course of three nights, is reduced to one night in the film, during which

Stefan takes Lisa to a variety of different places. We see them enjoying each other’s company on

what appears to be a romantic train tour, but what is actually just a cheap fairground ride in which

Lisa and Stefan climb into a claustrophobic little carriage and watch picture postcard scenes move

by while they remain immobile. This illusion, which is a key part the film, is actually the backdrop

to Stefan's seduction of her, which she believes is her greatest happiness. During this ride, Lisa also

tells Stefan several false stories about how she used to travel the world with her Father when she

was a child, an illustration of how her love for him has led her unknowingly into this dream -world.

And when he leaves the carriage to buy more time, he leaves her alone in her dream-world.

The contrast is further emphasized by the old man on his decrepit bike and the cynical woman who

operates the illusory voyage. Much like the removal men in the earlier scene where Lisa listens to
Stefan's imperfect piano playing, these seemingly irrelevant, outlying characters are in fact an

important part of the film's reality. This is a technique that Balázs referred to as 'simultaneism' in his

discussion of 'visual linkage'. He says:

The aim is to present not merely a single image of the world at large, but a number of

simultaneous events. By means of this cross-section of life as a whole, the aim is to

create an impression of the entire world, since this alone can depict the world in its

reality.xii

By using this notion of simultaneism and incorporating these specific events into the story, Ophüls

allows us to witness reality as we are fully immersed in Lisa's fantasy. And achievement impossible

with the constraints of the story. We see it again later on in that same evening when Stefan and Lisa

intimately slow dance in an empty dance hall. The smart, uniformed orchestra playing for them is in

fact just a group of middle-aged and elderly women who are disgruntled by the situation. The

violinist even mentions that she 'prefers to play for married people' as they have homes. This makes

it clear that they are accustomed to Stefan's type and see through his manipulation of Lisa.

Despite all of this, and Stefan later impregnating Lisa and leading her on with his false affection,

her love never wavers. Not even during her marriage to an older, wealthy army veteran named

Johann. It is not until Lisa and Stefan's final scene together, years after the events of his initial

seduction that she finally sees reality. Lisa meets Stefan when she returns to Vienna and joins him in

his apartment, where it becomes clear that he has no recollection of her. This shatters the romantic

illusion that she had built up in her head since they night they had conceived their son years earlier,

and Ophüls stresses this revelation by showing Stefan remove a veil from her eyes. With that she

leaves him for good and the first tension of the story is resolved. The second level of tension exists

in the parallel story of Stefan and in his development as a character. Having this second level of

tension is of paramount importance as the protagonist of the story is dead before the events of the

first scene.
The first tension is driven by our pity for Lisa and by our desire for her to break free from the

fantasy world that Stefan has enslaved her in. The second, is driven by our anger towards Stefan,

and our desire to see him realize the tragedy that he inflicted upon the woman who loved him. As

Robin Wood put it, while we were expected to view the events from Lisa’s point of view, a moment

of reflection will show us that ‘Ophüls is taking great liberties with that assumption’. xiii We

experience the most intimate details of Lisa’s fantasy world but the film is also interweaved with

strange occurrences of which the importance is concealed from Lisa and could very easily be

missed by the audience. Consider another example of simultaneism, the final opera scene in which

Stefan and Lisa are in each other’s presence for the first time in years. Just before they both leave

the theatre, Act II of The Magic Flute commences incorrectly with Ein Machden oder Weibchen.

This particular song appears to be nothing more than background noise for the events on screen but

it’s lyrics hold a much deeper meaning for Stefan, although he was oblivious to it at the time.

When translated from Italian, the song includes lines such as ‘can I not please any of those

charming girls?’ and ‘If no one will grant me love than the flame must consume me.’ Is it possible

that Stefan’s womanising is just masking his search for a woman that he can liberate him from his

lonely existence? Perhaps just like Papageno in The Magic Flute, his true desires are for a woman to

grant him her love, and not just another one night stand. Had this not been what Stefan wanted,

would he have reacted the way he did at the end of the film? Had he not realized upon finishing the

letter that Lisa was the woman he had spent his whole life searching for and that he had missed his

one opportunity to settle down with her, his reaction would likely have been more akin to that of the

short story, in which he dismisses the letter unceremoniously. Instead, he does realize that she was

his ‘one chance for salvation, and last opportunity to settle down to safe and productive

monogamy,’xiv and as mentioned above, he is overwhelmed with despair and resigns himself to

accepting a duel which will certainly result in his death. And thus, the film's second tension is
resolved.

Let's consider this in comparison with the final few paragraphs of the short story, where we return

to R.'s perspective for the first time since the beginning. Zweig's words in these final paragraphs are

full of nuance and meaning. The woman is some kind of confused memory . . . or a neighbour's

child . . . or a woman in a dance cafe at night, but like a stone seen shimmering and shapeless in the

bed of a stream flowing with water. But then Zweig hits us: Then his eye falls on the vase, it's empty

on his birthday for the first time in year. He felt cold air from another world streaking into his

peaceful room. He felt the presence of death, he felt the presence of undying love. In this case, the

words are more powerful than visual scenes, and as such were impossible for Ophüls to replicate in

the film? Instead, he frequently pauses the narrative of the letter to show Stefan's reaction,

something that's unique to the film, and he includes the deaf servant being able to remember Lisa's

name when Stefan cannot. Most importantly, there is something in the film that's not possible in the

shorty story, and that's visual confirmation of Lisa's death. Which validates for the audience

everything that Stefan has lost by being unaware of her undying love for him. Balázs states that:

The words a novelist has to use are always clear-cut concepts whose sharp claws scratch

an unambiguous meaning from everything, while the purely visual nature of a film

enables us to see that 'indeterminate something' that can only ever appear in between the

lines of even the best novels.xv

The film returns to Stefan four times. In the short story, Zweig technically could have broken up the

letter to return to the perspective of R. but it could not possibly have been as effective as what is

accomplished in the film. By the power of the visual image, it was possible for Ophüls to show us

Stefan's arc developing without breaking the flow of Lisa's letter and thus to have two primary

tensions running through the film at once. Film is the only medium of storytelling in which this is

possible.
Balázs makes the very valid point that the work of novelists who have vast imaginations and can

write very visually, rarely translates into good cinema. Charles Dickens would be a prime example,

he and his equals build a story by creating an image with every line, and consequently making it

near impossible to replicate its narrative and thematic scope on-screen.xvi Letter is different. It

created an ideal opportunity for voice-over which allowed the film to depict Lisa's illusion and

contrast it with the true, tragic reality. Ophüls envisioned the medium of cinema as an opportunity

to take Zweig’s idea and mould it into his own beautiful creation. He stated that ‘the masters of the

profession, in their best moments of insight transcend both dramatic structure and dialogue to create

a new kind of tension which, I believe, has never existed before in any other forms of dramatic

expression; the tension of pictorial atmosphere and of shifting images’. xvii Stefan Zweig’s short

story is a classic in its own right, however Ophüls talent and passion for the moving image made it

possible for him to transform a classic piece of literature into a film of equal artistic merit.

i Balázs, Béla: Early Film Theory: Visible Man and the Spirit of Film, (New York: Berghahn
Books 2011, originally published 1924) pp. 17
ii Balázs, 2011, pp. 19
iii Balázs, 2011, pp. 17
iv Koch, Howard: As Time Goes By, (New York and London: Harvourt Brace Javonovich,
1979) pp. 82
v Rivette, Jacques, and Truffaut, Francois. “Entretien avec Max Ophüls.” Cahier du Cinema,
no. (June 1957) pp.7-25
vi Houseman, John. Front and Center, (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1979) pp. 210-217
vii Balázs, 2011, pp. 71.
viii Ophüls, Max. Letter From an Unknown Woman, (New Brunswick: Rutgers, The State
University, 1986) pp. 40-42
ix Willemen, Paul. Ophüls, (London, British Film Institute, 1978)
x Balázs, 2011, pp. 71
xi Koch, 1979, pp. 161
xii Balázs, 2011, pp. 70
xiii Wood, Robin. Personal Views, (London: Gordon Fraser, 1976) pp. 116-132
xiv Williams, Alan. Max Ophüls and the Cinema of Desire, (Salem: Alan Larson Williams, 1977)
pp. 52
xv Balázs, 2011, pp. 67
xvi Balázs, 2011, pp.23
xvii Ophüls, 1954