Ninotchka

Ninotchka (1939)
a film by Ernst Lubitsch

After Hiroshima Mon Amour it was hard to make it better, it was hard to keep it up. And then comes Ninotchka and keeps me awake and laughing after midnight. This is a really entertaining story with fluid and witty dialogues that is worth discovering.

I'm amazed by the simplicity of this movie introducing the great topics in such a fresh way, with so much humor and smart words that it is easy to forget the tension back in the date of its release. The problem of balancing individual freedom and equality of right finds an amusing set
in this beautiful love story, so naive in the surface, where you can laugh watching a man falling from his chair and then feel deeply moved as you see four friends saving their eggs to enjoy a meal together.

Scene by scene I was impressed by the dialogues. Each line is really witty and smart making the dialogues flow with lots rhythm while the images were revealing and very human. It is easy to laugh and enjoy with the nice characters as it is easy to be moved by their gestures and their actions. I laughed with the Russian trio as I felt sorry for Ninotchka in the middle of the situation that split her soul.

And there is Garbo. What an amazing character she makes of Ninotchka. From the memorable lines when she first arrives to her hopeful look in the ending scene I wanted to follow the evolution of this character, and I wanted more and more of her. You follow her while her ideas are challenged and you make the trip with her, it moved my heart and exalted my ideas. How transparent is the conflict between love and ideals when you see Ninotchka's eyes, how amazing is her smile and seeing her raise her eyebrow when she is completely serious. Garbo laughs. Garbo talks. Garbo rocks!