Romance of the Past: Ninotchka (1939)

I hadn't paid much attention to this film, but I've had it for a while. When I realized it was from 1939, it grabbed my interest. Ninotchka is easily one of the oldest films I've ever watched. I had no idea what it was about, and I had almost no recognition of any of the actors. So what is this mysterious film all about? It turns out it's sort of a statement on the then new Soviet Russia set in a time before the wars. Hit the jump for more.


Ninotchka (Greta Garbo) is a Russian woman sent to Paris on a mission to sell some jewels appropriated from the previous Duchess of Russia. Now that Russia is under Soviet control, and everything is shared among the people, she is not interested in the luxuries that Paris has to offer. She unwittingly meets Leon (Melvyn Douglas), and starts having feelings for him. That is until she finds out he's the negotiator for the Duchess, who is trying to claim the jewels as her own. The longer Ninotchka stays in Paris and around Leon, the more she starts to warm up to the city of love! It all flies in the face of her political beliefs, but can she stand true to these beliefs, or will she give in to the new concepts being shown to her in the lovely city of Paris?

Ninotchka is more interested in the physical facts about the Eiffel Tower than it's beauty

One issue I had with the film is simply due to its age. The story and the plot, the way the characters act, even the fashion, pretty much everything about the movie has really aged. Soviet Russia is gone, that way of thinking is also very rare now. It was also kind of awkward that this entire movie is basically screaming "Soviets are bad! Look how bad it is to be soviet!" and at the same time. And I know fashion is hard to complain about, but when a hat that is featured in the film supposedly to represent an example of the "height of fashion and beauty", but it looks more like a birthday party hat, there's clearly some disconnect here.

Romance the way only old movies depict it. It just doesn't happen like this anymore.

I can't say I thought the acting was good. It passes in the way super old movies pass, in that everything has that certain quality that just make you think "oh yeah, this is really old". It comes across as kinda cheesy, and to me, simply not genuine. I does have that fairy-tale like quality to the romance side of the film, but that right there should tell you how real it felt.

Ninotchka dealing with the original Russian envoy who messed up the sale of the jewels

The comedy is also very basic and I didn't find it that funny. I half expected to hear a laugh track at some points, or see Larry, Curly and Moe to walk in. Instead we get a plain silly trio of Russians who don't even want to be there doing their job. Instead they just waste Russia's money while they live the life in Paris. Of course they're nothing compared to the Three Stooges, but they really are there just for some comedy relief. Unfortunately it just doesn't play anymore.

It was kinda interesting to see a movie that was so old, but it seems that it's simply too old for its sensibilities to work right anymore, for me at least. I'm sure there are some die-hard romantics out there who will love the love story contained here, but it didn't work for me, it just all seems so fake. I really couldn't recommend this film, and I'll probably forget about it pretty quickly too. Don't waste your time.