A bright story It's absolutely bright. Sometimes transparency. After all, all the dramatic, sometimes even tragic events taking place in it are not the result of intentionally unjust actions of some villains. Because the last ones aren't here. Because all the characters in Roy Rowland’s 1944 film are good people. By nationality are Norwegians living in a small town in the US state of Wisconsin. And although he is far removed from the hostilities that engulf Europe, the lives of the heroes are by no means serene. Their wealth is more than modest. And they are concerned to provide their families with at least the most necessary for a normal life, for which they work from morning to night, but at the same time manage not to become stale, preserving a place in their souls for kindness and participation.
And it is not surprising that in such an environment, responsive, internally finely organized children grow up (which, however difficult it may be to guess even a little familiar with the biblical theme of the viewer, are associated with “gentle grapes”, and the second title of the film, “Our Vineyards in Color” is a quote from “Song of Songs”).
To a large extent, this applies to five-year-old Arnold (Jackie “Butch” Jenkins) and especially to Selma (Margaret O’Brien), who is only two years older than him, which, however, does not prevent this extraordinary girl from being a philosophically thinking, unaged shrewd creature. Her wisdom can be rightfully proud of her parents, Bruna (Agnes Moorhead) and Martinius (Edward J. Robinson), who has some extraordinary feelings for her daughter, due not only to her kinship with her, but also to her spiritual connection. And this is subtly, without playfulness and sentimentality, embodied on the screen by Margaret O Bryan and Edward J. Robinson, whose duet turns out to be a decoration of the film, in the course of watching which one and the same time there is a feeling that you are warming up at the hearth, again, albeit not for long, but still gain almost lost faith in positive human principles. And this is very important today, when the environment gives us almost nothing but aggression and seemingly endless disappointments.
10 out of 10
