In the golden age of Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s, Katherine Hepburn was not so prominent among Garbo, Monroe, Bergman and other stunners of various styles. As an actress, she was not yet stunningly beautiful People are not sexy enough. They are tall and have a prominent skeleton. Their temperament is far from gentle and pleasant, and tends to be firm and strong.
In Katherine Hepburn's early films, she mostly played some masculine women, valiant, with freckles on her face like flying self-confidence, her words and deeds are full of the light of new women, the pursuit of spiritual equality and free. She integrates her temperament into the role, and off-screen she dresses casually and uninhibited as in the movie. In her 1935 film Sylvia Scarlett, she even played "dressing as a man" outright, but it wasn't acceptable to audiences at the time. Between 1935 and 1938, many films did not sell well, which made Katharine Hepburn labeled as "box office poison", and she was once very lost in the embarrassment of transformation. It was not until the success of "The Philadelphia Story" that Hollywood once again extended an olive branch to Katharine Hepburn. She began to treat her role cautiously, maintaining an independent and profound female image as much as possible in "The Philadelphia Story", confident and proud. , even a little insufferable, but still full of loneliness and affection in his heart.
A woman with a resolute character has almost become a symbolic image in Hepburn's early films, which is also very consistent with her tough facial contour and personal character, and does not feel abrupt in the audience's perspective. Under the strong posture in her movies, the highlight of men's lives is just a glimpse of her. Men are an embellishment in her life, a note, and she will always have the possibility of fulfilling herself. Such a female character was almost gratifying in the movies at the time. She had both the valiant and valiant looks of a man and the softness of a woman. She was determined and independent. Compared with her contemporaries, Katherine Hepburn could be said to fit perfectly. The dual aesthetics of men and women.
On the contrary, in Katherine Hepburn's 1955 film "Summer Time", the heroine she played revealed a loneliness in her power, a gesture of refusal and welcome, and a woman-like twist, which was really unpleasant. In such a "Roman Holiday"-style love story, in front of such a beautiful scenery as Venice, although his heart is full of desire, he always sits upright, making people feel sullen for her incomprehensible style.
"Summer Time" is based on the beautiful scenery of Venice. The viewer follows the travel footprints and photographic lenses of the American woman Hudson Jane, all the way to the water city. Calvino once said: "Everyone has a city composed of differences in his heart. It has no shape or outline. It is up to individual cities to fill it." For Jane, Venice is such a city that can fill The city she was looking forward to was novel, romantic, and exotic. She rode a gondola on the water-paved road in Venice, whether it was the buildings of Piazza San Marco or the sunset on the island, even the hotel rooms. , open the window and you can see the sea view, the beautiful exotic scenery prompts our heroine to raise her memory medium again and again: the camera, and write the beautiful scenery of Venice into her travels. "Roman Holiday" has long become a classic travel adventure, Princess Anne said that her favorite city is Rome, because Rome has her unforgettable travel experience and love memory. Aventures in travel have become extremely clichéd movie plots, but in such a dreamy scene of Venice, if there is no love, it seems to be somewhat disappointing.
Among the guests living in the same hotel with the heroine Jane, a noisy middle-aged and elderly couple is always eager to go shopping in the market, the girl and her painter boyfriend cruise the river at night, while our heroine Jane is beside us. Compared to the noisy and lively Venice, she still looks lonely and lonely, so she has no choice but to walk around the streets with a camera idle to take pictures. The sun was drinking coffee to pass the time, all of which were seen by the man behind him, Renardo. Their first encounter ended without a hitch because of her panic. It wasn't until they met each other again in an antique store that a Venetian magic seemed to push them closer.
Katherine Hepburn portrayed Jane, an American woman, in a particularly good position. Although she was lonely and lost, she was reserved, restrained, and cautiously probed and investigated. When she learned that Renardo was married and had a child and also had a relationship in her previous relationship. Lies, her protective shell overcame their happy, romantic scenes. The anger, loss and sadness caused by deceit made her open heart return to its previous closed state. It was Renado's words that woke her up: "You were expecting a handsome, rich, preferably unmarried man, but unfortunately you were disappointed, I am just a small businessman, not handsome, rich, and married. Yes. But I'm a man, you're a woman... There's a voice in your head, be quiet, let it happen, I want it to happen." Confronted by Leonardo's bluntness, Jane was at a loss, her The protective shell slowly faded, and her stubbornness slowly disarmed and surrendered. I don't know if it was the scenery of Venice that gave birth to all this, or it was love at first sight. Why bother to pursue it? Venice is so charming, and the adventure of travel is also very beautiful.
The best time always passed without knowing it. She was a passer-by in Venice, not a returnee. On the return train that was gradually starting, she saw him galloping in the distance. He ran after the train, trying to hand her favorite gardenia into her hands. The train drove away, and their hands that stretched out to each other made a sudden fold in the air and returned to themselves. Farewell without goodbye, keep the fragrance of love.
The love in travel and the scenery of Venice remain in the memory together, becoming the most vivid and profound footnote in the travel diary of Venice.
When performing "Summer Time", Katherine Hepburn was already middle-aged, and her face clearly showed traces of the years. story.
Although "Summertime" is based on the beautiful scenery of Venice, but because of this unpleasant female role, she has become a rare part of Katharine Hepburn's performance.
In the following acting career, she resumed her role as a strong and independent woman on the screen like "The Philadelphia Story", received multiple Oscar nominations, and was nominated for the Oscars for the films "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" and "The Lion in Winter" ” and won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice.
1982's "Golden Pond" can almost be regarded as a look back on Katherine Hepburn's acting career. On the lake under the sunset, two elderly people who are close to each other slowly grow old together with each other. The gentle gaze makes all language pale.
From free and uninhibited to independent and self-confident, with expectations and desires in the midst of loneliness and hesitation, Katharine Hepburn's on-screen characters walked on a stable path in the 1940s and 1950s. The female characters are impressive. Such a seemingly indifferent ending, however, inherits the tender emotions in the viewer's emotions. But since the low ebb in the late 1930s, she has never dared to try other roles, which may be a pity for her fans.
("Watching the Movie" No. 410)
View more about Summertime reviews
