Word: natascha
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...surface, the dialogue is the weakest part of the film; the critics pounced on awkward exchanges (NATASCHA: "Careful, these pajamas are transparent!" OGDEN: "So are you!") and lines like Brando's "I want you to know this is the first real happiness I've known." But criticizing the dialogue on conventional grounds is meaningless; in Chaplin's film, lines have little significance in themselves. The dialogue cannot be divorced from how a character says his line or what he looks like while he's saying it: these factors combine to form complete characterizations. Chaplin has carefully directed the line-readings...
...prison island of Sakhalin, the Russian commandant shoots himself in the head and the Siberian exiles are free to try to recapture their former lives, to wander back to wives and children. This situation is complicated for Semion and Ivan, fast friends, because they both love a beautiful Siberian, Natascha. Semion has mated with her for eight years; for five of those years Ivan, living in the same cabin, has manfully choked his desire. But when freedom comes, no such suppression is possible. Ivan confesses his passion to Semion, and they spend their last night together in a friendly vigil...
...ambiguously symbolical: a troyka is a Russian carriage drawn by three horses, the centre horse wearing a halter around its neck. The play exhibits all the typical appurtenances of Russian drama, including characters named Bogulieff and Bolotoff, without any of the vitalizing insight of a Chekhov or a Tolstoy. Natascha is quietly played by Zita Johann, whose intelligent presence gave interest to last season's Machinal...
...appreciated. His all-absorbing passion for Russia, however, his desire for her good over that of any party, his blind devotion to what he believes to be right--these are the characteristics which make him a splendid figure. These too are the characteristics which win the devotion of Natascha, the most dangerous revolutionist in Russia, capably played by Evelyn Brent. Around the love of these two the story is woven...