Nominee
I have been blindsided.... This looked like a film that was going to be another run of the mill 1930's romance. We will have the glamour shots of Greta, the smooth talking of Melvin, and two hours of dated innocence leading to some very sappy ending. Well yeah that was there but sitting beneath this very tidy package of a classic Hollywood film....lied something else.
This film is about a Bolshevik woman who ends up in the fun loving atmosphere of Paris. As you may be able to tell from this statement alone...this film has really hysterical moments. I mean the blatant capitalist propaganda must have been funny back then because they absolutely believed it to be true. Now the same things are funny because of their utter ridiculous and blatant execution regardless of your feelings on the subject. They even put in a minor poke at Nazism (even the Soviets don't like the Nazis), and the general depiction of the Soviets is just so over the top that I am not even sure they could make this film today. (Not without a Sacha Baton Cohen level of political incorrectness).
That in general really sold this as an entertaining watch for me. The actors all do a respectable job, its all done in invisible style so nothing to say there, and the only qualm I will mention is Ninotchka's character transition is almost completely not motivated but that is part of what makes it so funny to a modern audience.
Overall: This is a hidden piece of history that results in some moments of real hilarity. Yes it also has the schmaltzy love plot but the humor makes up in the originality department. Happy Watching Comrade!
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