Friday, December 19, 2008


Moulin Rouge, Paris, 1931
Ilse Bing

4 comments:

Senancour said...

Ninotchka: You might hold this for me.
Leon: I'd love to.
Ninotchka: Correct me if I'm wrong. We are facing north, aren't we?
Leon: Facing north? Well now, I'd had to commit myself without my compass. Pardon me, are you an explorer?
Ninotchka: No, I am looking for the Eiffel Tower.
Leon: Good heavens, is that thing lost again? Oh, are you interested in a view?
Ninotchka: I'm interested in the Eiffel Tower from a technical standpoint.
Leon: Technical? No, no, I'm afraid I couldn't be of much help from that angle. You see, a Parisian only goes to the Tower in moments of despair to jump off.
Ninotchka: How long does it take a man to land?
Leon: Now isn't that too bad. The last time I jumped, I forgot to time it. Let me see now, the Eiffel Tower - ah, your finger please?
Ninotchka: Why do you need my finger?
Leon: It's bad manners to point with your own. (A close shot of the map with her finger pointing at it.) There, the Eiffel Tower.
Ninotchka: And where are we?
Leon: Where are we? Let me see. Where are we? Ah, here we are. There you are, and here am I. (She raises one eyebrow.) Feel it?
Ninotchka: I am interested only in the shortest distance between these two points. Must you flirt?
Leon: Well, I don't have to, but I find it natural.
Ninotchka: Suppress it!
Leon: I'll try. (She folds up her map.)
Ninotchka: For my own information, would you call your approach toward me typical of the local morale?
Leon: Mademoiselle, it is that approach which has made Paris what it is.
Ninotchka: You're very sure of yourself, aren't you?
Leon: Well, nothing's happened recently to shake my self-confidence.
Ninotchka: I have heard of the arrogant male in capitalistic society. It is having a superior earning power that makes you that way.
Leon: A Russian! I love Russians! Comrade. I've been fascinated by your Five-Year Plan for the last fifteen years.
Ninotchka: Your type will soon be extinct. (She walks out of the frame.)
1939

carol said...

i'm not very good at comments, and your comment deserves a good response.
care to be me and reply?

i owe you one.

Senancour said...

Hello,
A dialogue from Ninotchka by Lubitsch... It was a quite approximate association of ideas, Paris in the thirties seen from Hollywood in a very European wit, but I do love Lubitsch !
S.

carol said...

the shop around the corner. :)