"When I don't hear from him it's as if I've died. As if the air is sucked from my lungs and I'm left desolate. But when I receive a letter, I know our world is real. It's the one I care for."
-- Fanny Brawne describing her relationship with John Keats, Bright Star
Allie: Why didn't you write me? Why? It wasn't over for me, I waited for you for seven years. But now it's too late.
Noah: I wrote you 365 letters. I wrote you everyday for a year.
Allie: You wrote me?
Noah: Yes... it wasn't over, it still isn't over!
-- The Notebook
"Oh, my Dear Friend, my heart was trembling as I walked into the post office, and there you were, lying in Box 237. I took you out of your envelope and read you, read you right there."
-- Klara writing to her pen pal, The Shop Around the Corner
Within the past year the movies Dear John (now on DVD) and Letters to Juliet (playing in theaters) were released based around plots relating to writing letters (they both also happen to star Amanda Seyfried). For this list I thought of movies (owned by the library) that involved handwritten letters, not emails; the letters may play a minor role or drive the movie. I'd say my favorite recent examples of letters in the movies are Bright Star and The Young Victoria. It was also refreshing to see letter-writing in Youth in Revolt, as it is a recent release set in the present day and you would think the characters would be texting/emailing each other. Feel free to add more movies and/or scenes from movies in the comments section! And if you haven't seen Dear John yet, come watch it at the library tonight. We are showing it at 6 PM in the Meeting Room.
Atonement
DVD FICTION ATONEMENT
◊ Robbie writes several versions of a letter to Cecilia and mistakenly takes the sexually explicit letter to Cecilia's sister, Briony, to be delivered. Briony takes the letter out of the envelope to read it, which sets off a chain of events that alters the lives of the characters.
Starring James MacAvoy and Keira Knightley
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Bright Star
NEW DVD FICTION BRIGHT
◊ Fanny Brawne and John Keats write letters to each other during their courtship; Fanny pays attention to nothing else when she reads one of Keats' letters.
◊ Mr. Brown sends Fanny a Valentine which makes Keats jealous
Starring Abbie Cornish and Ben Whishaw
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Broken Flowers
DVD FICTION BROKEN
◊ A bachelor receives an anonymous pink letter from a former lover telling him he has a 19-year-old son.
Starring Bill Murray
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Dear John
NEW DVD FICTION
◊ A soldier in Iraq and his girlfriend send letters to each other.
Find it in the catalog!
Forrest Gump
DVD FICTION FORREST
◊ While he is stationed in Vietnam, Forrest writes letters to his childhood friend Jenny; one day a bundle of the letters are returned to him, unopened.
◊ Forrest visits Jenny's grave and brings a letter written to Jenny from Forrest Jr.
Starring Tom Hanks and Robin Wright Penn
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Harry Potter films
DVD FAMILY HARRY
◊ Owls transport letters and other pieces of mail, like Howlers, which are magical letters that basically yell at the recipients. In Chamber of Secrets Ron receives a scolding Howler from his mother.
Julie & Julia
NEW DVD FICTION JULIE
◊ Julia Child is pen pals with Avis De Voto and shares drafts of her French cookbook. At one point in the movie Julia meets Avis for the first time.
◊ In an emotional scene, Julia receives a letter from her sister, Dorothy, in which Dorothy shares the news that she is pregnant. While she is happy for her sister, Julia can't help but be sad for the children she can't have.
Starring Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci
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The Lake House
DVD FICTION LAKE
◊ Letters that travel through time! A man and a women write love letters to each other; Alex is writing in 2004 while Kate is in 2006.
Starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock
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Letters From Iwo Jima
DVD FOREIGN LETTERS
◊ The letters unearthed from Iwo Jima tell the stories of the soldiers
Starring Ken Watanabe
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The Notebook
DVD FICTION NOTEBOOK
◊ After a whirlwind romance one summer as teenagers, Allie moves away. Noah writes to Allie and never hears back from her; Allie's mother disapproved of Noah and never gave her the letters.
Starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams
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Possession
DVD FICTION POSSESSION
◊ Two literary scholars have devoted their lives to studying two Victorian poets who are revealed to have had a romantic affair once love letters are discovered.
Starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Aaron Eckhart
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Pride & Prejudice (2005)
DVD FICTION PRIDE
◊ Elizabeth receives a letter from Mr. Darcy in which he explains himself
◊ Elizabeth receives a letter when she is with the Fosters about her sister running off with Mr. Wickham
Starring Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfayden
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P.S. I Love You
DVD FICTION P.S.
◊ Letters written by a husband to his wife, which the wife receives after the husband's death.
Starring Hilary Swank and Gerard Butler
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The Shop Around The Corner
DVD COMEDY SHOP
◊ Klara and Alfred both work at the Matuschek and Company shop and cannot stand each other; she is infatuated with her pen pal, who is actually Alfred.
Starring Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullivan
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Silk
DVD FICTION SILK
◊ A married silkworm smuggler meets a woman when he is in Japan and they write letters to each other despite the language barrier between them.
Starring Michael Pitt and Keira Knightley
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Vertigo
DVD FICTION VERTIGO
◊ After Scottie notices the resemblance between Judy and Madeleine (Mr. Elster's wife, who Scottie became infatuated with, and thought was dead), Judy sits down and writes a letter explaining what really was going on with Mr. Elster and his wife, Madeleine. But she crumples the letter up and goes along with the charade, allowing Scottie to dress her up as Madeleine.
Starring Jimmy Stewart
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White Christmas
DVD MUSICAL WHITE
◊ Wallace and Davis come to see the Haynes Sisters perform after they receive a letter written by their brother who was in the army with them. However Judy wrote the letter without her sister Betty's knowledge about it.
◊ General Waverly receives a letter with depressing news in response to his inquiry about getting back into the Army life.
◊ After the announcement of the fake engagement between Phil and Judy, Betty writes Judy a letter when she leaves to perform solo.
Starring Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye
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The Young Victoria
NEW DVD FICTION YOUNG
◊ Queen Victoria and Prince Albert write letters back and forth
◊ Victoria waits to see if any mail has arrived from Germany; in another scene Albert races down the stairs for the mail
◊ Victoria dabs perfume on her letters before she sends them to Albert
Starring Emily Blunt and Rupert Friend
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Youth in Revolt
NEW DVD COMEDY YOUTH
◊ Sheeni slips a letter to Nick in his back pocket as they are kissing
◊ Nick writes letters to a classmate of Sheeni's pretending to like her. He asks her to sneek sleeping pills into Sheeni's drinks; Nick wants Sheeni to get kicked out of school so that they can be together.
Starring Michael Cera
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Zodiac
DVD FICTION ZODIAC
◊ The Zodiac killer sends letters written in code about his murders to a newspaper in San Francisco.
Starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Robert Downey, Jr.
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