This isn't really a comedy, despite it's billing in TV guides and some boisterous parts in the first half of the film. It is really a drama that tries to tell a story about different characters trying to make the best of their circumstances, amidst the near-chaos of post-war eastern Europe.
The backdrop and the sub-text of the film is that this is the preamble before the 'winter' of the cold war sets in; an unhappy state of affairs that suits no-one.
There is a fine cast in this film and it is mostly well-made. The camerawork uses a fair amount of the (then novel) zoom lens which is a little distracting, but not as distracting as some hand-held camerawork; an early example of 'shaky camera' for effect. Yeah, we get the point after ten seconds, we don't have to made ill by watching this for several more minutes, do we...?
If asked to criticise the casting and the acting performances, I can't help but think that Niven plays it a bit too straight, and that say, (a younger) Alec Guinness might have done a better job of it. But I am quibbling really; this is a pretty good film, well worth watching.
The backdrop and the sub-text of the film is that this is the preamble before the 'winter' of the cold war sets in; an unhappy state of affairs that suits no-one.
There is a fine cast in this film and it is mostly well-made. The camerawork uses a fair amount of the (then novel) zoom lens which is a little distracting, but not as distracting as some hand-held camerawork; an early example of 'shaky camera' for effect. Yeah, we get the point after ten seconds, we don't have to made ill by watching this for several more minutes, do we...?
If asked to criticise the casting and the acting performances, I can't help but think that Niven plays it a bit too straight, and that say, (a younger) Alec Guinness might have done a better job of it. But I am quibbling really; this is a pretty good film, well worth watching.