I love this movie for a couple of reasons.
The story is originally from a play by Ferenc Molnár, who was Hungarian, like I am, so his other works are well known in my country. I love the play, and I'd give it a 9, but (I don't say this very often) the movie is much better.
It all takes place in the separated Berlin in 1961. Its about a rich man(working for a big soft drink company) of "wealth and taste", who has to look after his boss's daughter, which turns out to be a real struggle as the girl secretly marries a communist party member of the east side.
The director is our beloved Billy Wilder, who surely knew how to make a good comedy. The film doesn't have any moment without a great joke, I laughed so hard, I fell down from the sofa(not joking). The biggest difference between the play and the movie is the amount of political references and elements. Its a fight between capitalism and communism on every level, mostly by humorous conversations between the characters.
The dialogues are fantastic, and haven't lost their topicality over the years(its recommended to know about the political situation though). James Cagney steals the show as the main character, its jesting to see an actor who used to play mostly bad guys as a funny character.
I'd recommend this film to anyone. The writing, the characters, the acting are all excellent, and the humour still challenges the diaphragm.
10/10
The story is originally from a play by Ferenc Molnár, who was Hungarian, like I am, so his other works are well known in my country. I love the play, and I'd give it a 9, but (I don't say this very often) the movie is much better.
It all takes place in the separated Berlin in 1961. Its about a rich man(working for a big soft drink company) of "wealth and taste", who has to look after his boss's daughter, which turns out to be a real struggle as the girl secretly marries a communist party member of the east side.
The director is our beloved Billy Wilder, who surely knew how to make a good comedy. The film doesn't have any moment without a great joke, I laughed so hard, I fell down from the sofa(not joking). The biggest difference between the play and the movie is the amount of political references and elements. Its a fight between capitalism and communism on every level, mostly by humorous conversations between the characters.
The dialogues are fantastic, and haven't lost their topicality over the years(its recommended to know about the political situation though). James Cagney steals the show as the main character, its jesting to see an actor who used to play mostly bad guys as a funny character.
I'd recommend this film to anyone. The writing, the characters, the acting are all excellent, and the humour still challenges the diaphragm.
10/10