Although Joan Fontaine has achieved great success with "Butterfly Dream" and "Deep Boudoir Suspicious Cloud", the best performance of Joan Fontaine in my mind is "A Letter from a Stranger Woman" adapted from Zweig's original book in 1947.
The story roughly follows Zweig's original work, with certain changes of course. It is about a sentimental pianist who received a long letter when he was about to avoid a duel. The letter stated that a girl named Lisa had been taken away by the music and graceful image of the pianist who lived near her since she was a simple girl.
The first time they met was when the pianist went downstairs to go out, Lisa opened the door for him, and received a polite thank you
She went to learn dance music history to improve her literacy. After her mother remarried, she had to move house and couldn't hear him playing the piano every day.
Faced with the pursuit of the young military officer, she was not tempted but went to find a pianist for a night. When the pianist left, she said that she would be back in two weeks, but he never came back, who was romantic.
After Lisa gave birth and raised a child for him for a few years, she married the officer to make a living, and later ran into the pianist once. He noticed her and was fascinated by her, and said that she has a very important part in his memory. Just can't think of it.
Lisa gave up the family and children for him after a struggle, but on the night with him, she found that the pianist didn't remember herself at all and just wanted to have fun. The heartbroken Lisa left sadly, and their child unfortunately fell ill and died. Lisa was exhausted physically and mentally, and wrote this letter before death to tell the pianist her story.
After the pianist read and asked the servant her name, the servant wrote it out without any problem. He was very touched and gave up the idea of avoiding, to accept her husband's duel.
Compared with the unknown woman who dedicated her life to the hero in the original work, the heroine in the film is endowed with more soul and independence. She first had her name Lisa. And there is no such thing as waiting for the protagonist of Playboy without getting married in the original book. But after giving birth to a child for him, he married an officer who had been pursuing him.
If it weren't for the pianist's reappearance to indicate that she had a very important memory of her deja vu, and deliberately ended her debauchery life, she would not leave her family. However, after seeing that the pianist did not really remember himself, he left the pianist completely, and died physically and mentally after the death of the child. Compared to the original book, Lisa is more independent than the original book. The final writing to the pianist is not the last show of love, but hopes to finish her own words. Therefore, her tragedy is even more pitiful.
The most touching thing is that at the end, the pianist saw the servant fluently write her name, recalled the time with her, and went out to face her husband duel. When he opened the door, he vaguely saw the phantom of the girl Lisa, just as she opened the door for herself when the two met for the first time.
After watching Lisa's whole life of chasing true love and preserving herself, seeing this scene really touched people's hearts.
In addition to the touching and successful adaptation of the story itself, which further enriches the heroine, the image and performance of Joan Fangden are also crucial. From the beginning of the young girl to the later lady, the film is impeccable in both image and performance. The film's narrative and the use of props and shots are also very commendable. This film is among the works of Joan Fontaine that I have seen. She is the most perfect regardless of her charm or performance. Lisa is also her most irreplaceable character. No other actress will be more suitable than her. .
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