I came to that movie with a good feeling : the trailer is good, the actress is great, the picture is not bad, the film-maker has a good reputation, the film had a price in cannes, the novel is a classic of french litterature. I was in a good mood too. But nothing of that helped me : I forced myself to stay watching it. I even hoped something would happen, the director awaking or something, but nothing happened. The "contemporary" adaptation of a 17th century novel is always a good idea, because without the costumes, some details of the old times appear differently and helps us to see what really changed during theese centuries. I liked for this "rastignac ou les ambitieux" (a TV movie from Balzac) or "moments de jean-jacques Rousseau", a cd-rom. But "La lettre" didn't work with me. I must tell I hated the music used, some kind of portuguese large audience crooner songs (portugal has so brilliant musicians... why choosing this one ?) and this makes maybe a lot because the music has a certain importance here.