Today I’m starting a new serie of articles. I will talk about two of my idols : Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly, and for each one of them I will talk about THE film which is, in my opinion, the most relevant of their carriers. As you may have noticed, today’s article is going to be about Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
This film is an adaption of Truman Capote’s book of the same name published in 1958. Blake Edwards adapted the novella on screen in 1961, starring Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard. This film became famous all around the world, and I think it’s because it’s universal. Indeed, it talks about a man and a woman who live in the city, they are neighboroughs and they will fall in love. But of course their love story is more than complicated.
Holly Golightly ( Audrey Hepburn ) dreams of a comfortable life, a one in which she could afford something from the store Tiffany’s on the 5th Avenue in Manhattan. Every man she has a relationship with is wealthy, her aspiration being getting married with a rich man. She lives in a small appartment in Brooklyn, doesn’t have a proper job, but she acts like a lady. She wears enormous jewels made of pearls, her clothes are elegant, she often wears a huge hat, sunnies and her hair are tied up. She cares a lot about how she speaks and how she behaves in order to attract men from upper class. But one day she meets her neighbor : Paul Varjac ( Geoge Peppard ). He’s a writer but he’s having hard times selling his books. He’s quite charming and smart, and of course he will be attracted by Holly. She will have feelings for him too, but she will deny them : he’s too poor to be been considered as an option !
Holly and Paul will become friends, they will go on rides in NYC, talk about themselves, their lives, she will confess her dream about getting something at Tiffany’s. I think that the moment when Paul realizes that h in love with Holly is when he hears her singing by the window. This scene is so beautiful, and Audrey’s voice is so touching. Lyrics are deep too. Thus scene is one of the most important, it’s like if Holly were showing her heart, singing herself to whoever could hear her. And Paul is hearing her. He finds out that she’s not just a shallow girl, but a lonely woman, waiting for a sign of fate. The song » Moon river » is still well known, it was even rewarded by the Academy Awards for the best original score and the best original song.
One day they will go in a store and steal masks ! This scene is quite funny, they look like foolish children falling in love. This scene is one of the reasons why I love this film so much : derision. Each time something could be serious well it’s not. It talks about real problems : money issues, dreaming of another life, impossible love, priorities, choices etc… But there will always be something that will make you laugh, a detail, a word, a look, and make you realize that we are asking too much questions to ourselves, and that we shall just live.
One day Paul meets a man named Doc Golighlty, who tells him that he’s Hollis husband, that her real name is Lula Mae Barnes and that she’s from Texas. Paul confronts Holly who confesses him that she married doc when she was 13 years old and that she ran away in order to have a better life. Doc was nice to her, but they were poor and she was a girl with a head full of dreams. Doc tells them that after she took off he looked for her, and that he went to NY in order to bring her back. Holly refuses and Doc leaves the city. After Doc’s departure, Holly and Paul get closer, they even spend the night together. But in the morning she’s not here. Paul is sick of this situation, he’s in love with her and she’s torturing him. He decides to end their relationship or whatever it was they had. He later leans that she planned to marry Jose a rich Brazilian, and that she’s supposed to join him in Brazil the next morning. Paul is devastated and tries to make her come back to reason.
But in the evening Holly is arrested. Indeed she was framed by one of the man she used to frequent. But the next morning she’s released on bail. Paul is waiting for her in a taxi with a letter from Jose ending their arrangement because of her arrest. Holly’s dream of the perfect life is falling apart. Paul tries to make her realize that money isn’t everything, that they are in love and that’s all that matters.
Holly won’t stop crying, she tries to cover her sadness with make up, and decides to jump out of the cab. But she soon turns back to Paul, and finally they kiss !!!
In the rain of course : so romantic right ? This scene is amazing : it’s the last scene, the so expected kiss, and they are surrounded by garbage, with Holly’s cat between them, and completly wet by the rain ! That’s what I was talking earlier, the derision in this movie. Thats why I love it so much. It’s not a boring common love story even if in the end they end up together. I think the director made a wonderful job, the way scenes are filming, the scenario, the choices of costumes,meverything is perfectly done. Lots of people say that Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a film made only for shallow girls who wants to be rich and pretty. I disagree. Men should watch this film, Paul Varjac should inspire them ! Plus, this film criticizes superficiality, denounces the fact that our choices are most of the time made for the bad reasons; here money is in the center of everything. It makes us realize that it corrupts our souls, deforms our judgment, and takes us away from what true. But in the end Holly stays with Paul, so everything isn’t lost !
Life is hard and we are all tempted to take off, to start over. We all have dreams and of course I want to have money too, I want to be able to buy anything I want. But if there’s no one to share anything with, there is no point. So give up your prejudice on this film, it’s atemporal and talks about all of us.
Chronicles of Ada 