Comedy / Romance
1939 / 110 minutes
Rating: 8/10
Our story begins with three bumbling Soviet envoys, newly arrived in Paris, trying to figure out where to stay. They are in town to sell a set of jewelry that the Communists “confiscated” from the overthrown Russian aristocracy. And how do Communist Party members act when they are away from the watchful eyes, and snitching lips, of their country’s fellow comrades? The trio find all sorts of very reasonable justifications for spending large amounts of the people’s money, whether that’s renting the grandest room in the hotel (because it has the biggest safe for their jewels), or getting themselves all decked out in crisp new suits (to, of course, better represent the importance of their homeland).
But the jewels’ former owner, the Grand Duchess Swana, is in town too. And when a former Russian count, now a Parisian waiter, gets wind of the jewels’ proximity and alerts the Duchess. She’s still living a regal life, even in exile, and that takes cash, so she could really benefit from getting those jewels back. So even as the Communists are trying to sell them, the Duchess tries to recover them.
The trio’s bumbling has Russia sending a new envoy, and this time she is a true believer – Comrade Ninotchka has nothing but disdain for all the West represents.
This is where the film takes an intriguing twist. It’s clearly a critique of the Communist Revolution, both its hypocrisy – with the trio representing how the new leadership was eager to live much like the aristocracy they overthrew – and even communism at its most correct, represented by the true-believer, Ninotchka.
And do they then contrast that with Capitalism at its best? No the film don’t stack the deck like that. Instead we get a bounder – Parisian playboy, Count Leon d’Algout – to represent the extravagant, consumerist, ridiculous West. It’s quite a way to frame the debate, showcasing Capitalism’s vices as still being a step up from Communism’s supposed virtues.
Cautions
Teens should be warned that Count Leon isn’t to be mistaken for any sort of hero – his motivations, at least initially, are simply money.
At one point Count Leon takes Ninotchka to his house and you might wonder what is about to happen. They do kiss, but that’s all before she leaves. There’s also the old trope common to many a Hollywood production, of falling deeply, madly in love at just a glance. But this is not a story meant to be taken all that seriously, I think that’s hardly a concern hear.
Finally, Ninotchka and Leon get drunk, and while in her case it is do to inexperience with champagne, he doesn’t have that excuse.
Conclusion
Russian spy Whittaker Chambers eventually rejected communism, converted to Christianity, and became a writer for TIME magazine. So when he reviewed Ninotchka, it was coming from someone who knows He said the film was:
“….neither crude clowning nor crude prejudice, but a literate and knowingly directed satire which lands many a shrewd crack about phony Five Year Plans, collective farms, Communist jargon and pseudo-scientific gab.”
The original pitch for this comedy was just three lines: “Russian girl saturated with Bolshevist ideals goes to fearful, capitalistic, monopolistic Paris. She meets romance and has an uproarious good time. Capitalism not so bad, after all.” In pitting the best of Communism against the excesses of Capitalism Ninotchka offers up a fantastic critique of Marx.
I’d recommend it for 15 and up, because it’d be a lot funnier for the youngsters if they’ve at least encountered Communism and the Soviet Union in their history class.
