Portrait of Jennie

Starts out looking like a masterpiece, but disappoints a bit at the end.

An unusual romance with a supernatural twist to it. The highlight is the cinematography, lots of picture-postcard moments with soft lighting. Cotten is always a pleasure and Barrymore's character is quite likeable. On the downside, the film drowns under the wall-to-wall Debussy score. Also, the dialogue and narration deals too heavily in useless romantic abstractions, but I suppose some people like that sort of thing. Overall, it's a nice, touching movie.

So odd.

Beautiful dreamlike imagery and compelling mysterious romance. The leads do a wonderful job but the star is undoubtedly the cinematography. At times it feels a little heavy handed, something not helped by the opening narration, but ultimately it didn't hamper my enjoyment.

Viewed February 9, 2019.

# 963

Some really great images, but a little too predictable and hammy for even me..

835

A film about the artist's muse as a ghost, an intermittent siren whose visits become all-consuming, and eventually, an obsession. It's only after the artist has finished his first truly inspired & personal work that he no longer needs the muse as a crutch, for he has absorbed her.

Thing about films that rely on two characters falling passionately in love, you've really got to feel it, or else the whole thing falls to pieces? What did Eben see in Jennie? She was... innocent, maybe? What did Jennie see in Eben? He was.... there.

tired: PORTRAIT OF JENNIE influenced VERTIGO. wired: PORTRAIT OF JENNIE influenced TWIXT!

A well-made, haunting romance that does drag at times, despite its short runtime.

The structure is kind of magical and Cotten really sells it.

A charming romantic fantasy. I like the idea of the ghostly muse, inspiring a struggling artist from beyond the grave, and the photography is quite beautiful at times.

watched: 2012, 2018

A haunting romance. Quite possibly the best in this fantasy romance subgenre, next to "Somewhere In Time" and "Brigadoon"

Dieterle era definitivamente dos grandes.

"William Dieterle's 1948 masterpiece Portrait of Jennie is not only an unabashedly romantic melodrama but also a fascinating ghost story." - Ed Gonzalez

Stylistically beautiful; the use of fog, shadows and slightly distorted perspectives to provide a dreamy feel to the moments that underline the unstable balance between memories, emotions and the nature of reality. However, this whimsicality is laid on too thick both as a moral of the story and as a vehicle of narration.

Sorry guys, but i don't really see what the big deal about this one is. I mean sure it looks nice and all, but goddamn the story is hokey, and not just in a "corny romantic" way which can be fine but also a hokey as in Twilight Zone way. It probably seemed less so when it was originally released, before the "she's been dead for ten years!" trope was so thoroughly played out and parodied, but still...

I have some lingering skepticism about this one. I think it's a beautifully shot film. It has a hazy, poetic aura that fits it's supernatural story, and the use of real locations like Central Park is still quite unusual in the late 40's. I just found my suspension of disbelief to be severely tested by how casually dumb Cotten's character is. His performance is wonderful, but he's written to just blatantly ignore how obviously supernatural his situation is.

825

Intensely romantic, every exterior scene has this dreamy, undetermined character (the distinct texture in some of the images makes them look like paintings/embroidery). And it gets quite fucking astonishing at the end; a lighthouse, a storm, depicted as a grandiose dream, Cotton, waves and a threatening sky, his love, maybe a dream, a ghost or what the fuck, a place out there.. An amazing sequence. But I'm bothered by the haughty music going throughout the film, I must say.

Hg

Known as the film that sunk the mighty David O. Selznick. Portrait of Jennie (1948) is a damn good movie. A bit much when it comes to it's dreamy romance and arty-farty presentation, but there's a lot of ambition here. Jennifer Jones was as hauntingly stunning as she was supposed to be. You have two such grand old ladies as Lillian Gish & Ethel Barrymore giving their eternal input. But mainly its the presentation that soaks in beauty that makes this one shine.

What a let-down ending.

#886