Oliveira then made '' Anxiety '' ( '' Inquietude '' ) in 1998 . The episodic film contains three short films based on literary works by Helder Prista Monteiro ( '' Os Immortais '' ) , António Patrício ( '' Suzy '' ) and Agustina Bessa-Luís ( '' Mãe de Um Rio '' ) . In '' Os Immortais '' a 90-year-old man ( José Pinto ) concludes that old age is horrible and attempts to convince his middle aged son ( Luís Miguel Cintra ) to commit suicide . In '' Suzy '' , an aristocrat ( Diogo Dória ) has an affair with a beautiful young cocotte ( Leonor Silveira ) , but social class differences prevent him from having a deep , meaningful relationship with her . In '' Mãe de Um Rio '' , Leonor Baldaque plays a discontent small town girl who yearns for a more exotic life and seek advice from the Mother of the River ( Irene Papas ) . The film won Oliveira another award for Best Director at the 1998 Portuguese Golden Globe Awards . In 1999 Oliveira made '' The Letter '' ( '' La Lettre '' ) , based on the 17th century French novel '' The Princess of Cleves '' by Madame de Lafayette . Oliveira had wanted to make a film from the novel since the late 1970s , but had initially thought that it was too complicated to be filmed . The film updates the novel to modern day and stars Chiara Mastroianni as Catherine de Clèves , Antoine Chappey as the husband that she does not love , Leonor Silveira as her childhood friend who has become a nun and her confidant , and Portuguese rock star Pedro Abrunhosa playing himself in the role of the dashing Duke of Nemours , whom Catherine is in love with . Abrunhosa also wrote some original songs for the film . The film won the Grand Jury Prize at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival
1999 Cannes Film Festival
1999 Cannes Film Festival
Manoel de Oliveira