Giovani amanti

It's a pleasure for a French to watch highly talented Odile Versois in an Asquith movie;born a Russian (Poliakov) ,this part was tailor made for her:her three sisters were/are also actresses ,the most famous of them being Marina Vlady.In France she was not often given the parts she deserved and she prematurely died in the early eighties.

This could be subtitled "Romeo and Juliet in the cold war" ;An American falling in love with a Russian ambassador's daughter in those somber years is a dead end.Both become suspects,accused of being traitors to their countries.Chased by their own compatriots ,on both side (of the iron curtain although it takes place in england),they take a rebel stand and send a message of love,hope and tolerance to the world.

This is a touching melodrama,well acted by the two principals.

(The quote above is from a review of a concert where Robert Shaw conducted Bach's mighty B-Minor Mass, then followed it with some spirituals for encores.)

A lot of water has crashed over the dam in sexual relationships since this movie was released 53 years ago. Yes, the sexual frankness is a bit higher than we expect, about at the level of "West Side Story" (a woman in her slip sitting up in bed), but the notion that two people can simply fall in love and move mountains to maintain that love seems pretty quaint to us today. You will groan at some of the clichés the lovers spout in the process.

And speaking of "West Side Story", oh, my, there's a lot of "Romeo and Juliet" here as well. There's also a bit of "A Farewell to Arms", but I won't specify what, so's not to spoil.

Well, the film satisfied a craving in the audiences of its day, and we can watch it even today with interest, though it's not particularly compelling anymore. There's good pacing, good film-making, very plausible visuals, and a great crescendo of almost Hitchcockian excitement toward the end, but the plot also depends on some very weak twists to pull it through, I'm afraid.

I stopped the film about ten minutes from the end, and asked myself, "It appears they'll either make it, or they won't. Do I care?" And yes, I had to admit, I was invested in it at that point. I cared. And so I played it, willingly, to the end.

This is one of the many films that have a promising synopsis and fail to really engage.

It's the story of two young lovers who meet at the ballet in London. One works in the code room at the US Embassy, the other the daughter of the Soviet ambassador. They decide that love transcends politics and run away together. They have an unconvincing escape across the channel during a violent storm and are last seen sailing away together (to where no-one is sure).

All the potential for drama and conflict between the two bitter enemies is lost and the actors themselves seem unconvinced.

Probably captured the mood of the times but looking extremely dated now. This was made at the height of the Cold War,so presumably people were hoping for a raproachment. Whereas attitudes of the two countries involved would have been far more cynical.

Trust me, it is well worth watching! 2 young people meet at the ballet and start a romance, but politically, they can not be together. He is on one side, she the other, and "there is no 3rd side". Yet they defy everyone and continue to see each other, playing a very dangerous cat and mouse game with their superiors.

The movie itself seemed either very pre-code, or very modern, with the details of their relationship and eventually the news that Anna is to have a baby; when of course she is not married to Ted!

Overall I gave it a 10. It held my interest for the entire time, it was happy, sad, heartwarming and heartbreaking, and some of the suspense would have made Hitchcock proud.