The Letter-Writer

A Feature film of

Jean-François Amiguet

Produced by

Erato Films

Production year1993

French release10/11/1993

Runtime

1h 22m

Synopsis

This is the story of Jacques and Fanny, who have fallen out of love, and for that reason, maybe love each other more than ever. Jacques is forty. He's attractive, disparaging, an ironist and loner. He's always in his own space - either out in front or out behind - because he's scared. Scared of saying it, of being positive, opting in, getting involved, scared of being got to, of being understood. He claims that loving is beyond him. He says that happiness is an over-rated commodity and the truth is never good to tell. He lives like this, with the grim cheerfulness of one who thinks he has nothing left to lose.
Fanny is a few years younger. She is a laughing, moody person, charming and volatile. She likes to live in the light. She is pained by the gray areas, the chiaroscuro, the half-truths, the bouts of withdrawal, the haziness, the distances that exist between two people. She believes in grace, the beauty of things, the gifts of life. She's never thought unhappiness was particularly thrilling or interesting, it's just the price you have to pay for being very happy at other times. So even when she cries, it's out of a taste for happiness.
After seven years of life together, Jacques and Fanny were out of love and out of imagination. A year ago they agreed to split up. They still see each other, though. They even live across the street from one another. They're still the best friends.
Then, out of the blue, Fanny says she's going to live abroad...