I Don't Want to Be a Man

An early Lubitsch comedy. It's the first silent I've seen of him and I have to say I preferred it over his later films. Increased pacing and reduced runtime make this much easier to digest, even though the comedy is still quite outdated and the plot's a little questionable, depending on how you look at it.

Ossi grows up in a rich family, but she's somewhat of a free spirit, something society doesn't really accept from girls. That doesn't stop her though, and she decides to dress up as a man in order to go out and enjoy life. But as she'll soon find out, being a man is a lot tougher than she expected it to be.

Performances are pretty energetic and overstated, which works well for this type of comedy. The laughs are extremely basic though and the "men have it tough too" morality only feels current if you're an incel. I Don't Want to Be a Man isn't all that remarkable, but at least it doesn't overstay its welcome.