2 recensioni
Born in Russia, Victor Tourjansky was cosmopolitan : he made first movies in his native land ;when the revolution rove him away from his country , he worked in the US ,in Germany ,in Italy and in France.
In the thirties , he made a good adaptation of Maupassant 's short story "l'ordonnance" (1933) ; "volga en flammes" (1934) was an adventures movie ,but the French actors were miscast as Russians or Cossacks ;both "la peur" and "le mensonge de nina petrovna " were melodramas ,the latter being the best of the two.
At his best , "le mensonge " has an elegance which recalls Max Ophüls ;at his worst,it descends toward the banality of two-bit romance.
Two officers ,a captain and his lieutenant are a courtezan 's mistress.This woman ,a Russian adventuress,whose beauty makes all the men around turn their head,and can incite them to commit suicide: the "suicide" of the rejected suitor (a farce) echoes to another one (real and tragic).
Lie is the keyword : Nina lives (and dies) in untruthfulness ;she lies to the "official " lover who does not know he 's got a rival in the shape of his subordinate;she lies when she tells her real lover that a peaceful life in a house in the mountains is not what she longs for.
Brilliant dialogue by Henri Jeanson whose anti-militarism surfaces ("officers generally die at 90") ;a good cast with a stunningly attractive Isa Miranda , Fernand Gravey as her love interest and mischievous Paulette Dubost as a happy-go-lucky grisette fond of goulash.
In the thirties , he made a good adaptation of Maupassant 's short story "l'ordonnance" (1933) ; "volga en flammes" (1934) was an adventures movie ,but the French actors were miscast as Russians or Cossacks ;both "la peur" and "le mensonge de nina petrovna " were melodramas ,the latter being the best of the two.
At his best , "le mensonge " has an elegance which recalls Max Ophüls ;at his worst,it descends toward the banality of two-bit romance.
Two officers ,a captain and his lieutenant are a courtezan 's mistress.This woman ,a Russian adventuress,whose beauty makes all the men around turn their head,and can incite them to commit suicide: the "suicide" of the rejected suitor (a farce) echoes to another one (real and tragic).
Lie is the keyword : Nina lives (and dies) in untruthfulness ;she lies to the "official " lover who does not know he 's got a rival in the shape of his subordinate;she lies when she tells her real lover that a peaceful life in a house in the mountains is not what she longs for.
Brilliant dialogue by Henri Jeanson whose anti-militarism surfaces ("officers generally die at 90") ;a good cast with a stunningly attractive Isa Miranda , Fernand Gravey as her love interest and mischievous Paulette Dubost as a happy-go-lucky grisette fond of goulash.
- ulicknormanowen
- 22 mar 2020
- Permalink
Nina Petrovna (Isa Miranda), a Russian, returns to Vienna as the mistress of an Austrian officer, Baron Engern (Aime Clariond.) There, she meets Lt. Franz Korff (Fernand Gravet)and falls in love with him. And he with her but he leaves the city when he discovers she is the Baron's mistress. Nina breaks with the Baron, who promptly challenges Korff to a duel. Nina returns to the Baron to prevent the duel but, without her lover, finds that life means nothing to her.
First US showing at the Filmarte in NYC, with French dialogue and complete English titles, including the title itself to "The Lie of Nina Petrovna."
First US showing at the Filmarte in NYC, with French dialogue and complete English titles, including the title itself to "The Lie of Nina Petrovna."