Review of Ninotchka (1939) by Joe L — 01 Jan 2009

I can't believe this was garbo's second to last film, and I completely understand why the world mourned her absence. another deft comedy from lubitch, who's only other film i've seen at this point is the wonderful 'trouble in paradise.

' the comic buildup is great, with garbo essentially playing a stoic robot in the first half, and is gradually broken back down into a real person by the flirtation of melvyn douglas (nearly indistinguishable from william powell).

what's most interesting (aside from garbo's perfectly nuanced performance) is the kid gloves treatment of communism as kind of an endearing mistake that our good friends on the other side of the ocean are making, and don't yet know what they've gotten into.

just a few years later, a film like this would have cast the garbo character and her associates as full on villains.