I was fortunate enough to meet the "Max Ophirs Film Festival" and was able to see the 1948 version of "Letter from a Strange Woman" on the big screen (I remember reading the novel in high school, translated as "Letter from a Strange Woman". Years later , learned a little German, but still have to admit that it should be "Letter from a Strange Woman"). There have been many movie adaptations of the novel, but this is the first time I've seen a movie version. For literary works that I particularly like, it was only in recent years that I could be tolerant of film and television adaptations. If I had watched this film ten years ago, I might have said something like "magic modification" with contempt.
Let me talk about why it is harsh, I will feel that the magic change.
The few sentences in the novel that impressed me the most are the following two.
1. "But I want to stay free for you and not be bound by others. Deep down in my heart, the dreams that I had as a child are still there, and you may call me again, even for an hour, for the sake of This could exist for an hour and I turned down all suitors."
The movie was changed to Lisa getting married when the child was 9 years old, which was a big surprise to me. In my opinion, it was already contrary to the setting in the novel.
2. "If my death made you miserable, I wouldn't die."
(It is also the most impressive sentence in the original German version, Täte es dir weh, dass ich strebe, so könnte ich nicht streben)
In my heart, this sentence is a summary of the heroine's cognition of her love. I love you, but I know it means nothing to you. While watching the movie, I was looking forward to hearing it, but it didn't show up. In the movie, her inner monologue is too little. Basically, it is mainly to restore the fantasy illusion of Lisa and Stefan as if they are in love. As a movie, it is understandable, but they are in the amusement park together. A feeling of talking about a heartless love, so when I think of the original book, it is a bit inconsistent.
Then write about two details of the film that I admire.
1. In the original book, the heroine loves a novelist, and the movie is a pianist with the same name as Zweig (Stefan). Indeed, listening to the object of his longing play the moonlight and the like, the picture should be more romantic than watching him write and write (here does not mean that the power of words is not as powerful as music).
2. At the end of the original book, the letter "Can you buy some roses to put in a vase on your birthday... This is my only request to you". Judging from the atmosphere of the movie, the presence of the heroine in the writer's heart in the original book is even lower than the presence of Lisa in Stefan's heart in the movie. This line appears, I also think it is quite appropriate. But at the end of the movie, Stefan took away a white rose from Lisa. As a reader who loves the original book, he is very satisfied with the restoration of the ending.
"Letter from a Strange Woman" can be said to have established my view of love to some extent. I love you, but I want nothing from you. If I want to be with you, I just hope that you will not reject my love and let me give everything I can to make you happy. A few years ago, I was fortunate (in fact, unfortunate) and had a similar relationship with the heroine. When I was about to break up, I wrote dozens of pages of letters, writing down my story from chasing my ex-boyfriend to breaking up, and sent it to him. In the process of writing, I felt that I somewhat understood the mood of the heroine when she wrote the letter. It's really hard to describe that feeling because of my limited pen power. Before breaking up, my ex-boyfriend said to me, "Actually, maybe we broke up. If you find a boyfriend who is good at everything, I will be jealous." I said no, if I knew you had a little bit of jealousy, I would never be willing to leave you, but I know you won't, so I can leave with peace of mind after breaking up, when I say this I was all thinking "if my death makes you miserable, I won't die". I still want to recommend the movie with 4 stars. After all, it is a movie, and it is not a problem that it is sweeter than the original. 1 star minus in the heroine's character design and the original look still a bit different.
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