Aug. 30, 2002 - 2:57 am
this was only my second Greta Garbo film to see. the other being Grand Hotel (1932). it was recommended to me by my mom after she saw that i had been watching some of the films from the AFI Passions list. she said this was one of the great ones she had seen from the list. it turned out to be really good.
set in the late 19th century in France, it tells of a woman who lives by the moment, searching only for things that give her pleasure. she spends most of her time trying to find suitors to pay for her expensive lifestyle. then one comes along who says that he is in love with her and has been for some time. he doesn't have much money, but for some reason she is still drawn to his sweet words of love. after a time, the man's father comes to her and begs her not to see him any more so that she will not hinder his advancement and his ability to lead a fruitful life. she agrees and decides that she must break his heart in order to "leave him." and all the while she is slowly dying from what appears to be tuberculosis. expect a sad ending to this one. sad but good.
i really hated Greta Garbo in Grand Hotel, so i was expecting to be nauseous the entire time i watched this film. after a while though, i started to somewhat get over my dislike for her. she is a good actress in some ways, but in other ways i just find her disgusting. and the Swedish accent being pawned off as French is just crap. that did not fool me for a second. and then half of the people in this are British, the other half American. i don't think i heard one person with a true French accent. oh well, they're still doing that crap in 2002 so i guess i can't really complain too much about that aspect of this one particular film.
the movie has great direction though, from George Cukor. he also directed The Philadelphia Story (1940) and Born Yesterday (1950). my mom also recommended that film to me. (mom, if you don't know it, you seem to be a George Cukor fan.)
man, i need to get back to my Best Pictures nominees list this weekend. i've got one in the works at least. expect it to appear here soon.