I also knew about her from the dubbed production of "CCTV Sunday Afternoon". It is said that it was played many times in the late 1980s. I have a vague impression, and I am too young to remember; interested. In October last year, I saw someone upload it on Baidu "Love in Petersburg", but unfortunately the link has expired, so I went to the e-mule and dragged it for a few weeks to download it, and then I translated the subtitles myself after several setbacks.
The story is about a bizarre romance between Eben Adams (Joseph Cotton), a down-and-out New York painter, and a girl Jenny (Jennifer Jones) during the Great Depression. Jenny is not a specific person, in the film, she is actually the inspiration of the painter, from the soul deep inside. Some people classify her as a ghost movie, but this eight-part classification is obviously inappropriate.
When Eben met Jenny for the first time, she was a little girl. Jenny said: "You wait for me, I will turn three times and I will grow up." She really turned three times, and when the painter met her for the second time , she is already a girl. In the film, Jenny appeared a total of 6 times:
1. On the side of the road, wearing a black and white skirt and hat, leaving a silk scarf, and disappearing in the light of the street lamp. At the end of the film, the scarf appears last, symbolizing the end of Jenny's life.
2. At the skating rink, she grew into a young girl, wearing a black and white dress and a black beret, and disappeared in the beam of sunlight.
3. On the side of the road, she became a dignified lady, wearing a gray and white plaid coat, telling the sad news of the unexpected death of the painter's parents.
4. In the painter's room. Wearing a long white lace dress, the painter painted her portrait; the next day they went to the monastery together.
5. On the roadside, she has grown up, wore a silk skirt, and permed her fluffy curly hair. The painter continued to complete her portrait.
6. The lighthouse by the sea. Silk dress; picture hue changes to green.
As written in a film review, the song that Jenny sings in the film is a nightmare that will never go away in the hearts of the audience. It is said that many people know this movie from Sanmao's book, and it is this song that Sanmao has been entangled in when he was a teenager. The singing is really weird, especially "the wind blows", as if about to open the door of life and death, and one shudders at what will be seen behind it.
Because of the translation, I watched it twice, and I liked it and scared it, especially on a winter night. I am afraid of the gloom and desolation, the strange sound and picture, and I am moved by the sad feeling between Jenny and Eben. At that time, I was very impressed with this very content work, about the inspiration and passion of the artist; and Jenny is simple, lovely and kind, unlike the charming and morbid image in works such as "Haunted House". I admire this masterpiece in the 1940s. Many of the works of Selznick's major producers are excellent, but unfortunately they are often high and low. It is said that the film failed miserably at the box office, I can't believe it is true; but there will always be good things in the hearts of those who care about them.
There is also a big highlight in the film, that is, the beautiful light and shadow and the city scenery. This is also what the Serbian producers who pay attention to audio-visual have always advocated. Since the 4th appearance of Jenny (she has grown up at this time), every time she slowly appears from the dark place to the bright place, the light and shadow slowly hit, the picture gradually brightens, and the face also gradually brightens, It gives people a feeling of beauty gradually emerging, which is really enjoyable. There is also a very impressive shot. Jenny's second appearance. When she disappeared between city buildings on ice, the sun beams cast on the golden section between two slender high-rise buildings, the picture is so beautiful!
Absolutely love Jennifer Jones more than her performance in "Blood in the Sun". When there is Jenny, the atmosphere is always warm, and the music often changes suddenly, becoming light and soft. Even in the tense memories with the last horrific green picture.
At the end of the play, as Jenny encouraged Eben back then: "One day your work will be hung in the art gallery, and people from all over the world will come to appreciate it." Several little girls stopped in front of "Jenny's Portrait" to comment: " The painter must have loved her deeply, look how beautiful she is!" And when I saw Jenny in the painting, I added a kind of melancholy to the brow; this was the emotion that penetrated into the painter. That portrait of Jenny turned into color is beautiful in itself, with the light and shadow, the color, the line, the soul; it's just that the expression of the female owner of the gallery was too weird, which destroyed my inner peace.
The gallery owner once said to Eben: "Your paintings have no emotion... You should learn to really worry about one thing, worry about one thing." Emotion, or passion, is such an important thing; for artists, for everyone.
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