It has the traces of a Billy Wilder screenplay

Ninotchka

What should I say, Greta Garbo is so marvelous! I have read that the whole film somewhat centers around her, and that definitely shows very clearly. Her change from the severe Nina into a laughing Ninotchka surely is brilliant, very natural and so full of funny scenes. I think the humour and especially the way the characters talk to each other really, really look a lot like Billy Wilder, and I feel like I am seeing a lot of the wit from “The Apartment” in it. I even consider watching this show in german again, after all, “The Apartment” won with phrases like “kubelikmäßig” and “prozentmäßig” *hihihi* The “kubelikmäßig” of this film, however, are Buljanoff, Iranoff and Kopalski: After you hear things like “I’m searching for Buljanoff, Iranoff and Kopalski” or “Have you seen Buljanoff, Iranoff and Kopalski” over and over, suddenly the expression “Buljanoff, Iranoff and Kopalski” sounds extremely funny – don’t ask me why, maybe this is silly of me. Of course it helps that hilarity ensues whenever they appear on screen.

I have been talking about how “The Science of Sleep” shows a realistic Paris, because it doesn’t put an emphasis of Paris. Now, this film doesn’t show anything about Paris at all, besides the all-time-cliché – the Eiffel Tower. It’s not all too surprising, the film indeed is full of clichés, which didn’t dampen my enjoyment of this film at all (if communist Russia wasn’t portrayed like that, it simply wouldn’t have bee as funny), but it kind of makes me wonder why people would get annoyed at korean films that give a bad image of americans if films like “Ninotchka” exists that clearly depicts a wrong Russia. Ultimately I’m in the camp of saying that all this does not matter at all as long as the film is good itself.

I admit that I have expected more somehow, because I love “To be or not to be” so much, but this film definitely is a must-see in the history of film, and if it’s just for Greta Garbo (who I have never seen in a film before!).