There are two ways to rate a movie, in a passive way, or transport yourself to the period when it was made and then see, whether it had some added value over the other movies of its genre? These added values, which we of today may conveniently overlook, were the mile stones through which the art (and science) of movies progressed.
Did this movie add? Compared to many movies it did, but at these times European (and expatriate Europeans who made Hollywood their home) had been exceptional. There are scores of even silent movies that were not only sublime but more eloquent than most of the talkies. Garbo being one of the major proponent of this art, but she wasn't alone. Gish, Pickford etc too almost reached that perfection in few cases. One can't overlook actors like Asta Nielson who weren't infant in acting during infancy of cinema (early 1910).
This movie, in addition to well placed songs, which in fact carried the story forward to quite some extent. Even the classicals, in La Boheme, was well made, despite (as some one pointed out, fat soprano). It had some other features too, one of them was the beautiful geometric pattern of roofs in the panoramic scan in the beginning and also interesting geometric patterns of the apartment during Tulip Chase (also in the early parts), these were pure piece of art. The story is nothing complex (but may be because there had been several movies on this theme), one I liked better, was Becker's Antoine et Antoinette, but that was more than 15 years junior to it, so a lot of merit point comes here.
Sit back, relax, and think it is an 1931 movie, and with the expectations tuned, one could really enjoy this movie.
Did this movie add? Compared to many movies it did, but at these times European (and expatriate Europeans who made Hollywood their home) had been exceptional. There are scores of even silent movies that were not only sublime but more eloquent than most of the talkies. Garbo being one of the major proponent of this art, but she wasn't alone. Gish, Pickford etc too almost reached that perfection in few cases. One can't overlook actors like Asta Nielson who weren't infant in acting during infancy of cinema (early 1910).
This movie, in addition to well placed songs, which in fact carried the story forward to quite some extent. Even the classicals, in La Boheme, was well made, despite (as some one pointed out, fat soprano). It had some other features too, one of them was the beautiful geometric pattern of roofs in the panoramic scan in the beginning and also interesting geometric patterns of the apartment during Tulip Chase (also in the early parts), these were pure piece of art. The story is nothing complex (but may be because there had been several movies on this theme), one I liked better, was Becker's Antoine et Antoinette, but that was more than 15 years junior to it, so a lot of merit point comes here.
Sit back, relax, and think it is an 1931 movie, and with the expectations tuned, one could really enjoy this movie.