What makes Greta Garbo The Divine One? Why does she captivate us so? What does she, above any other actor or actress, manage to convey that no one before or since has managed to enliven?
When I watch a Garbo movie – and she is the star of two of my five favorite movies of all times, Ninotchka and Queen Christina – I see in every movement of her body and in every expression of her face a response to life itself. Her urgent way of moving, speedy but controlled, conveys how precious our limited time on this earth is. The way she tilts her chin up and closes her eyelids halfway convey her adoration of her male partner, and also of life itself. You can see her powerful zest for life in every little detail that makes up this fabulously feminine woman. She shows us the greatness of life and of being alive. And that is why we call her The Divine One.
Greta Garbo – La Divina