Silk Stockings

An ‘Ode to the Tractor’, silk stockings and a dutiful Soviet officer! Against the backdrop of the Cold War, this crude mixture gives rise to a torrid love story between Moscow and Paris, transcending all internal and external boundaries. Directed by Max Hopp, an actor well-known from theatre, film and television, Paris becomes the perfect setting for two lovers, while Austrian actor Michael Rotschopf, well-known from TV series such as Tatort and Wilsberg, unleashes all his charm in the role of the American artist agent, and musical specialist Koen Schoots provides the right groove on the podium of the Graz Philharmonic.

The Soviet officer Nina Yaschenko, known as Ninotchka, is beautiful, brittle and doesn’t think much of things that aren’t practical. A deeply committed communist, she is sent from Moscow to Paris to bring back home the renegade Soviet national composer Boroff. He is in danger of succumbing to the charm of the West and the advertising skills of American artist agent Steve Canfield, who wants to include Boroff’s ‘Ode to the Tractor’ as a musical fillet piece in a film. Initially adhereing to her principles, Ninotchka eventually succumbs to Canfield’s advances in the city of love.
Gradually, however, she is plagued by remorse. Moreover, Canfield’s capitalist views of the world seem incompatible with her communist ideology. Therefore, she travels back to Moscow. In the meantime, Canfield buys her 365 pairs of valuable silk stockings out of love, one for every day of the year, and follows her to the Soviet Union …
The opportunity to stage Ernst Lubitsch’s film as an homage to Paris must have seemed like a twist of fate to Cole Porter, since the American musical composer had a lifelong soft spot for the French metropolis, where he had met his own wife. Shimmering and dazzling like silk stockings, Cole Porter’s songs combine the great Broadway sound with the Russian and French musical languages.

Age recommendation: 12+