Review of Ninotchka (1939) by George W — 08 Aug 2015

At the core of this film is a dispute between the French and the Russians over which nationality a certain set of rich jewelry belongs to. Three Russians have obtained the jewels (legally from what I understood) although technically they had belonged to a powerful individual from France. The leading actor plays a Frenchman who is trying to make a compromise for both sides, but the three Russians want a consultant for themselves, so they hire the titular Ninotchka, a Russian woman devoid of all joy and happiness.

The Frenchman meets this woman before finding out she is the consultant for the Russians, and as if it was fate, he falls for her. He is persistent to spend time with her, and even realizes she does not enjoy life as she should, so he attempts to make her laugh, but there is no success until he does something unintentionally - he falls over a table in a restaurant and it makes everybody, including Ninotchka, to laugh themselves silly.

After this incident, things seem to change for Ninotchka, and she even laughs during very serious matters such as while she consults the three Russians about the dispute at hand. She truly enjoys life now and she comes to like the man, Leon, a lot, and eventually falls in love. This doesn't come about without some struggles, of course, but the heart of the movie effectively tells us that life is definitely worth enjoying.

This being a comedy, I wish there was more and better humor involved, but this movie is delightful in that its message is inspiring and still does fine without "better" comedy.