I had heard much about this movie but I only saw it recently on VHS. Its premise, a Soviet comrade who falls for a dilettante in pre-War Paris, has potential. But the 1930s requirement for evening dress scenes, a bedroom scene or two, always with lavish studio sets, suddenly makes the plotline seem foolish. When the third act moves to a communal apartment in Moscow, the movie becomes ludicrous.
Garbo is both sultry and radiant and when the camera moves in for a closeup, she glows under the special lens. And true, you get to see Garbo laugh. But since I never bought into the love affair between Garbo and Douglas, I found the remainder of the film concocted. The ending is atrocious and unsatisfying.
There is no one to blame for this. This is a period movie that hasn't survived the period. Ironically, there is a good Russian film 'Sluzhebnyj roman' which deals with similar characters: a strait-laced, hard, professional woman who meets a man and opens up to love. No doubt the theme is universal. It's just that "Ninotchka" misses the execution, at least to modern eyes.
Garbo is both sultry and radiant and when the camera moves in for a closeup, she glows under the special lens. And true, you get to see Garbo laugh. But since I never bought into the love affair between Garbo and Douglas, I found the remainder of the film concocted. The ending is atrocious and unsatisfying.
There is no one to blame for this. This is a period movie that hasn't survived the period. Ironically, there is a good Russian film 'Sluzhebnyj roman' which deals with similar characters: a strait-laced, hard, professional woman who meets a man and opens up to love. No doubt the theme is universal. It's just that "Ninotchka" misses the execution, at least to modern eyes.