Review of Portrait of Jennie (1948) by Sabrina I — 20 Dec 2010

I'm not exactly sure why this film flopped, it so beautiful and magical. It's pretty much on the same level as other classics that were also big hits in their time...perhaps because the film is a little strange and that maybe was off-putting for audiences back then.

It is a difficult film to catergorize...it is a film about a painter named Eben in love with a ghost but it's also about an artist and his struggles to create works that will inspire while also dealing with his poverty and lonliness.

Like, I'm rather surprised he didn't notice that something was odd about is meetings with the girl earlier...rather these meetings helped fuel his creativity. She gave him the push he needed, the self confidence he needed.

At one point, he feels like he can't even paint without meeting her first. In the beginning of the film, a man complained his work lacked something that made it stand out, I think he said it lacked love.

..and after he met her-that changed. He also becomes a different person after he meets her, less cynical. More hopeful and energetic. The performance are excellent. I love Joseph Cotton in every film I have seen of his, this one is no exception.

Jennifer Jones is mysterious and haunting and its great how she seems different each time he meets her, she ages a little each time and Jones does it perfectly. The ending is interesting and more ambitious than most films of that time.

The recreation of her death is filmed in green. The green was rather an odd choice and I was taken aback at first but I can understand why the filmmakers choose to go that way. Perhaps just for cinematic effect.

The last image we see, is the portrait...its in full color. Now Eben's world is quite different from the black and white that it was before...Jennie is gone but her effect on him is everlasting and the beauty of the painting is a testament to that.