Romance (1930)

(On Cable TV, May 2021) I’m not one to presume that 1930s films were less sophisticated than today — less technically polished, certainly, but not any less intense or subtle in matters of plotting, emotion and characters. Or at least that’s the rule — there are exceptions, and Romance often feels like one of them. It’s straightforward, familiar, blunt and unpolished. To be fair, it’s a simple story told at length, which is not the kind of pacing that I like. It’s also quite rough from a cinematographic perspective — not quite shot like a theatrical play, but almost. As a result, it’s a bit of a slog to get through. Fortunately, there are a few things worth looking for: Greta Garbo is as humourless as usual, but she does look good in side-curls. The story, despite its lack of density, does eventually lead to a surprising conclusion, so there’s at least some payoff for the investment. (Not that it’s that long of a movie — it just feels that way.)  What doesn’t help Romance is (as is typical of movies from this period) a flatness of tone, both video and audio — there’s only so much you can do to restore films from that era, but the monotonous audiovisual experience can be curiously demanding for modern viewers. Romance is a bit of a blunt object, but it eventually serves its purpose… even if it takes a while to get there.