Subtle humour is used to depict the period and the environment. But above all, the film's depiction of two people - a common soldier and a young waitress, played by the superstars of that time, Poul Reichhardt and Bodil Kjer (see clip) - reflects black melancholy and despair. The soldier helps her and she is attracted to him and his awkwardness. Happiness seems to be within reach. But shadows from the past threaten to destroy the delicate idyll.
Lord's patchwork
"The Lord's patchwork" is how the soldier refers to the stream of coincidences which he feels make up life. To him, skill and luck are the same - no matter what you do or what your competences are, chance determines your life. And as the love drama unfolds, Johan Jacobsen discusses concepts such as destiny, God and man's free will.
Johan Jacobsen wrote the script based on a play by Danish playwright Soya. Soya was notorious for provoking his contemporaries by questioning sexual morality and exposing hypocrisy.
Double standards and abortion
The Soldier and Jenny demonstrates how double standards exist in established society, addressing such issues as illegal foeticide - abortion was not permitted in Denmark until 1973. To many girls and women, the health and emotional implications of unauthorised interventions by abortionists were severe. But as a woman character in the film says, "Women who want to terminate a pregnancy will always find a way to do so."
Johan Jacobsen was most famous for his glib elegant comedies at the time he made The Soldier and Jenny. Several of the characters surrounding the unfortunate young couple show signs of this cynical wit. But the film is a brilliant illustration that Jacobsen was also capable of staging an intense and in many ways timeless drama.
Christian Monggaard is a film reviewer and critic for the daily newspaper Information.
The Soldier and Jenny.
Photo: Aage Wiltrup.