Breakfast at Tiffany's

Wikipedia describes this film as "A 1961 American romantic comedy... a naïve, eccentric café society girl who falls in love with a struggling writer." This is not what the movie is about at all! This description is misleading and inaccurate. I realize this film was released a long time ago and a lot of the film is just general knowledge by now, but if you were like me and ignored this film at all costs, I urge you to watch it again and dont read the following until after your re-watch. Now here's my take...____SPOILERS____************Breakfast at Tiffany's is a Romantic film, but it's not a Romantic Comedy. There are some light moments but not enough to call it a Romantic Comedy. The only Comedy elements are distastefully introduced by Mickey Rooney in what I would describe as an embarrassingly racist stereotype of a Japanese man. It's not funny at all and if the director were alive today, I would suggest releasing an edit with those scenes excised. They add nothing to the film or its message. Ignore them if you can, and if not, I understand. It was one of the reasons I never bothered finishing the film before.Next it describes Hepburn's character, Holly, as a "naïve, eccentric café society girl" and she's not that at all! In the actual film she's a former child bride of a Texas veterinarian named Doc Golightly, who no doubt consummated their marriage when she was 14. She runs as far away as she can to New York city, where she creates a plan to free her older brother, who has some sort of learning disability, from having to join the military to make a living. When she moves to New York she finds that men will pay for her company, so she becomes a high class escort at 15. So there goes the naive cafe society girl angle.When we find Paul Varjak, the male lead, moving into Holly's apartment she is now 19 years old, she has saved enough money and hustled her way into an apartment and is a messenger for the mob. Paul Varjak is a writer as described but he's also a Gigolo. A male sex worker currently hustling a rich older woman named Emily into financing his book, future writing projects and living quarters in New York. Holly recognizes him as a fellow hustler immediately, which annoys him at first, until he also realizes that she is also in a similar profession. So, far from being naive, both are professional hustlers of a sort and they approach the relationship in a shrewdly cynical yet honest way. Shes never dishonest with him about her plans, motivations and aspirations. In turn, he is brutally honest with her and tries to help her sort her life out because it seems she's become lost in the weeds of the underground society she's become a part of. She is not a helpless girl being saved by the strong cool man, as some have characterized her, but a flawed person who actually saves the man. He sees himself in her and liberates himself. He wants to help her see that she no longer has to chase the goal she has sought for so long.Although she can surely bring her brother to New York by now, and they can both help each other, she seems to be caught in the hustle. It's never enough, she has to be set for life by marrying a rich man. Which begs the question, who is she hustling for? Is she still trying to save her brother? Or is she trying to attain the currently unattainable status exemplified by the jewelry at Tiffanys. Her brother is no longer on the farm, he has gone off to war, yet she has become transfixed by the glamor. When her brother dies it becomes clear that her original objective is a failure, this was clear to Paul from the beginning. She decides to spend one last day being her true self, with a man she can love but never will. Because she will be married to the rich man at all costs; at the very least she will have accomplished one of her goals or else her brother's death was for nothing. At least, that's what she thinks. Paul on the other hand is done with the hustling life, he loves Holly in all of her true self. The selfish woman, the thief, the hustler, the sister, the sugar baby he really knows her warts and all. He feels liberated in their real cynical love. She must break his heart to free him.The crux of the film is this: Can two cynical hustlers trust each other? Can they love each other even though they have become callous to love? When sex, desire, attention and affection have no value other than as a business prospect can two people make a deeper connection? When shame, propriety and the facade of respectability are gone, can they trust their love?It's a cynical Romantic film whose subtext make it ahead of its time. I think I'll read the book.

Ever since I've first seen "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (1961), it's been my favorite movie. Every time I see that taxi pull up at Tiffany's on Fifth Avenue in the early morning, with Audrey Hepburn coming out and window shopping while eating a pastry and drinking coffee, it makes me happy for some reason. I can just watch this film over and over and over again, because I think it's a perfect movie with great acting, characters, and, of course, I love Audrey Hepburn, and that iconic photo of her standing in that black dress with a cigarette holder. Marilyn Monroe was originally supposed to be Holly Golightly, but declined, and as much as I love Marilyn, I'm glad that Audrey Hepburn took the role, because she's my favorite actress and I can't imagine anybody else being Holly Golightly. This is definitely my favorite film of hers, and my favorite of all time. Audrey Hepburn plays Holly Golightly, her most iconic role. She's a 19-year old socialite (Audrey was really 31 at that time), who is also a call-girl that takes "50 dollars for the powder room". George Peppard plays Paul Varjak, a writer who moves into her apartment, and later on they fall in love, but it's complicated since she has a troubled past and is irresponsible. The other names in the cast include Patricia Neal, Buddy Ebsen, Martin Balsam, and Mickey Rooney as Mr. Yunioshi, a very controversial role. The special features to the Paramount Centennial Collection of this film are definitely worth watching. The Disc 1 comes with the film and a commentary by producer Richard Shephard. The Disc 2 comes with "A Golightly Gathering", a 20 minute featurette that reunites all of the cast members from the famous cocktail party scene (it took a whopping 8 days to film!). It's one of the best featurettes on the DVD. The second feature is "Henry Mancini: More than Music", a 21 minute featurette about the life and music of famous composer, Henry Mancini, who did "Moon River", the theme song to "Breakfast at Tiffany's". "Mr. Yunioshi: An Asian Perspective is a 17 minute featurette you probably should skip. I can see how the whole was controversial and upsetting, but there's a lot of not needed things in this film, like talk about World War II and different Asian actors in films. I know it kind of relates to the featurette, but it doesn't even relate to the film itself. "The Making of a Classic" is a 16 minute featurette that talks about how the film was made. It comes with a lot of good information and it was really enjoyable. "It's So Audrey: A Style Icon" has to be my favorite featurette on this whole DVD. It's 8 minutes long and has different interviews with designers and even her ex-husband, Mel Ferrer, along with her son, Sean Ferrer. It also shows clips from different films of hers, which is my favorite part of the feature. It shows movies like "Breakfast at Tiffany's", "Roman Holiday", "Sabrina", "Funny Face", and "Paris When it Sizzles", along with some cute photos of Audrey. "Beyond the Gates: The Tour", is a 4-5 minute featurette that tours beyond the gates of Paramount, and talks about the history of my favorite movie company of all time. "Brilliance in a Blue Box" is about 6 minutes, and it talks about the history of Tiffany & Co. It's very interesting. "Audrey's Letter to Tiffany" is only 2 minutes long, and it shows the letter she wrote to Tiffany's for it's 150th anniversary book in 1987. It also comes with the original theatrical trailer and production photographs, which are enjoyable, too. It also comes with an 8-page booklet, like all Centennial Collections have, full of great information and photos. Altogether, "Breakfast at Tiffany's" is a classic that has so many things that make the movie great, like Audrey Hepburn, a great supporting cast, great New York setting, some nice drama and romance, an iconic ending, and, of course, Cat, which is Audrey's cat in the film that she doesn't give a name to. "Breakfast at Tiffany's" is without a doubt a great romance, and one of the most iconic movies of all time. Happy 50th anniversary!

good movie

I've been on a Hepburn kick lately and have never seen Breakfast at Tiffany's until now. It's truly iconic. I'm always nervous to buy DVDs through Amazon because I've had a couple of bad experiences but arrived in perfect condition. The seller clearly took the time to package it properly.

C'est un chef d'oeuvre d'Audrey. Formidable+++

Wenn Komödien-Legende BLAKE EDWARDS einen Roman von TRUMAN CAPOTE verfilmt und AUDREY HEPBURN die Hauptrolle spielt, dann darf man sehr wohl Großes erwarten. Zumindest wecken die großen Namen Erwartungen, die im Fall von „Frühstück bei Tiffany“ auch voll erfüllt werden.Die Story handelt von der bezaubernden HOLLY GOLLIGHTLLY (Audrey Hepburn), die als Partygirl ihr Leben in vollen Zügen genießt. Sie macht die Nacht zum Tag, zieht von Party zu Party und wechselt ihre Begleiter wie andere die Unterhosen. Ab und an lässt sie sich 50 $ für die „Toilette“ geben, weswegen nur betuchte Herren für sie in Frage kommen.Auch ihr neuer Nachbar PAUL VARJAK (George Peppard), ein junger und erfolgloser Schriftsteller, lässt sich aushalten, allerdings nur von einer Dame. Er hat ein Verhältnis mit der älteren und verheirateten MRS. FAILENSON (Patricia Neal), die ihn schon mal wie ihr Eigentum behandelt. PAUL ist von HOLLY fasziniert und er fühlt sich immer stärker zu ihr hingezogen, auch HOLLY beginnt sich in seiner Nähe immer wohler und geborgener zu fühlen. Zwischen den beiden entwickelt sich eine Freundschaft, doch tiefere Gefühle will HOLLY nicht zulassen, denn sie möchte sich unbedingt reich verheiraten. Als sie dann einen brasilianischen Großgrundbesitzer kennenlernt, wähnt sie sich am Ziel ihrer Träume …..In den 60ern war das Thema Prostitution nicht unbedingt was fürs Kino, weswegen man aus HOLLY GOLOGHTLY ein Partygirl machte, ganz im Gegensatz zu dem was sie im Buch ist. Aus diesem Grund lehnte auch MARILYN MONROE die Rolle ab, was letztendlich das Glück für AUDREY HEPBURN war, der sie auf den Leib geschrieben war.AUDREY HEPBURN ist wirklich herzallerliebts, zum Niederknien, einfach bezaubernd, schon alleine wegen ihr lohnt es sich den Film anzusehen. Aber auch sonst hat BLAKE EDWARDS wieder einmal exzellente Arbeit geleistet, in Sachen Komödien konnten ihm nicht viele das Wasser reichen. Der wusste schon was das Publikum sehen wollte, zur Not schrieb er einfach die Geschichte ein neig um, so wie in diesem Fall, wo er dem Publikum ein Happy End verschaffte …. anders als da CAPOTE im Roman tat.AUDREY HEPBURN war wie bereits erwähnt einfach hinreißend, aber auch GEORGE PEPPARD weiß als PAUL, bzw, „FRED“, wie er von HOLLY genannt wird, voll zu überzeugen. Die beiden passen irgendwie zueinander, allerdings muss man sagen, dass AUDREY HEPBURN alles überstrahlend ist, dagegen kann auch PEPPARD nicht anstinken.Auch in den 60ern wurde schon alles als „rassistisch“ gesehen, in diesem Film ist es die Darstellung von Nachbar MR. YUNIOSHI durch MICKEY ROONEY. RONNEY wird im Film auf „asiatisch“ geschminkt, ich wäre jetzt nie auf die Idee gekommen, dass das rassistisch sein könnte. Ich habe das nur mal gelesen und mit Unverständnis zur Kenntnis genommen ….Mein Fazit: „Frühstück bei Tiffany“ ist ein der schönsten Liebeskomödien die ich kenne, was vor allem eben an AUDREY HEPBURN liegt. Auch sonst ist der Film unheimlich charmant, sehr humorvoll, aber auch ergreifend und gelegentlich sogar melancholisch.Für mich ist das definitiv ein Klassiker, ein Klassiker, den ich mir regelmäßig anschaue und der mich immer wieder aufs Neue begeistert. Eine klare Empfehlung …. keine Frage!

半世紀以上経つのに、ティファニーは凄いってわかります。オードリーさんも素敵でした。娘から孫まで見れるから、とても良い商品ですね。