“Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love.” – Albert Einstein
Yesterday we watched a classic film starring a legendary actress. It was Ernst Lubitsch’s “Ninotchka” (1939) with the great Greta Garbo. It was a refreshing comedy that still managed to sparkle, nearly 70 year after it was made!
The story is a wry sociopolitical satire that manages to work on multiple levels, but which can nevertheless be enjoyed superficially as a romantic comedy. The film is very much a sign of the times it was made, full of the pre-WWII decadence and gaiety, but with a heavy dark cloud looming overhead. The Soviet emissaries Buljanoff, Iranoff, and Kopalski arrive in Paris to sell some jewellery for the Soviet Government, but the luxury and jollity of the soft capitalist ways begin to corrupt them. The Grand Duchess Swana, formerly of the Russian Royal Family (but now exiled in Paris), and former owner of the jewels, sends her very good friend, playboy Count Léon d'Algout, to sabotage the sale and try to get the jewels returned to her. The Russian emissaries’ incompetence with their fund-raising mission attracts a special envoy from Moscow, the stern and quite Red, Comrade Nina “Ninotchka” Ivanovna. A predictable east-west romance commences, but there is quite hurdle to be overcome as Ninotchka’s ideals come into conflict with her feelings for Léon.
Grabo’s great comedic talent shines forth in this film and this, being her second last film, is a fitting good bye to the silver screen. She plays the icy communist Nina very convincingly, but when she finally breaks into laughter, the transition is utterly believable, just as the shine of the sun as it breaks through clouds on a Spring day. Garbo won an Oscar for her performance in this film and it was well-deserved. Melvyn Douglas plays the debonair Léon and he is perfect foil to Garbo’s Ninotchka, although this is very much her film. The three bumbling Russian emissaries (Sig Ruman, Felix Bressart, Alexander Granach) are very good, as is the swanning Swana (Ina Claire) as supporting actors. There is a memorable guest appearance by Bela Lugosi (the famous Count Dracula of the 30s), who shows another part of his acting talent as the Muscovite Komissar.
The scenario is based on a story by Melchior Lengyel, but the screenplay is a collaboration Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder and Walter Reisch. Witty dialogue with several well-delivered amusing lines interplay with touches of black humour (such as the “Heil Hitler” salute of some German tourists and the frequent references to “Siberia”). I find that so many of these 1930s film had such sparkling dialogue and witty scripts, that it is hard for films nowadays to match them. It is as though the talkies challenged the scriptwriters to do their best work and after a couple of decades the magic went out of their pens. Ernst Lubitsch is great director, but his touch is light in this film and he allows the actors to show their talent, rather than directing them with an iron fist.
Overall a delightful, fun film. Watch it, if you haven’t already!
No comments:
Post a Comment