Cinema

(de voertaal van deze avond is Engels).

Jeffrey's Underground Cinema has been showing neglected and forgotten films for the last decade. This night:  

wed OCTOBER 22

PORTRAIT OF JENNIE 1948
Directed by William Dieterle
86 minutes
In English

Hollywood movies always had a pretty standard approach to cinema, following a basic set of rules. But every once and awhile came a movie that swept things over the cliff, and fell into uncharted territories. That’s what happened with this film. In any case it’s a bizarre, otherworldly trip…

This is an eerie supernatural story with a beautifully crafted mood. In a way, it’s the closest thing that comes to poetry in Hollywood cinema. The story has too many twists and turns to even begin to lay it out, but it focuses on an unsuccessful artist living in poverty (Joseph Cotton). One day he meets a young 12-year-old girl named Jennie in a wintry Central Park. After she is gone, he is haunted by the magic of this unexpected meeting, and the strange cryptic things that the young girl said. The movie continues to follow the journey of this artist, and it enters into a surreal world, questioning our idea of reality. Although it’s a tale that plunges us into mystery, it also postulates a philosophical-spiritual theory about art and creativity, and where inspiration comes from. The music soundtrack exploits variations of Claude Debussy, with the main theme song of Jennie by Bernard Herrmann (Alfred Hitchcock’s favourite composer).

Since it took audiences off guard, who weren’t prepared for such a strange experience, and originally was a failure at the box office… but it later gained a huge following, and is now considered one of the best fantasy movies ever made. Absolutely sterling.

With a short introduction by Jeffrey Babcock

20:30 (doors and bar open at 20:00)
Free entrance / no reservations
We advise you to come early: max. 70 people /
no admittance after 20.30