I have been thinking about that scene we saw in class today. It is makes sense that Eben would be so upset at seeing Jennie in that “sleep like” state with the cloudiness around her. She really does look like a ghost, which in the film is an idea that is played up a lot. I think that image shows that she is getting closer to “dying” again and I think Eben senses that. She basically has served her purpose for him, and I think at this point he becomes aware that his time with her is running short.
As far as the collaboration on the painting, I think it is interesting that she is so involved in the signing of the painting because although Eben is the artist, she is responsible for the painting really coming to life. Without Jennie popping up into his life, I think he would have never realized his potential as an artist because he had to have her as his subject to really come alive in his work. I think it is fair to say that she manipulated the way the finished work would turn out. She chose when to visit him and what times in her life she wanted him to put into the representation. Maybe that is why she seems so shocked in the film to see herself. She gave him the ingredients but she did not know how the finished product would turn out until he showed her. I feel that because of this, it was a collaboration between the artist and the subject that completed the look of the portrait, which would explain why the film shows her saying his name as he signs the portrait.
Interesting thought that Jennie’s visits might be partially under her control, and that she might have timed some of them for maximum inspirational effect for Eben. Something to mull over….
