Review of Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) by Bookreviews G — 17 Mar 2013

An enjoyable film. The film brought NY to love with many iconic places and of course is now a fashion and cult classic. And unlike Pretty Woman it wasn't all sparkly and fairy tale like.

Great performance by both actors.

I'm glad they didn't use Monroe to portray a call girl. The film required an actress of has plenty of charm, class and is innocent but sophisticated in order for the audience to feel empathy and to avoid it being a gritty underworld overly dramatized fake-arty film. Sex appeal would not work.

By casting Audrey Hepburn one felt empathy for women like her. She gave the film charm, class and warmth. One didn't feel we were watching the life of a acquisitive woman but rather watching the plight of a friend. She gave the character an endearing quality that a sexy star wold not have been able to achieve. I'm also glad that there was some Tinsel Town visibility in the film's ending - the actual ending of the book was far too gritty to make it a book worth reading. One doesn't always wish to be presented with the melancholy weakness of human beings. The want to shock and horrify by labeling it "realistic" can also become far too tried and stereotypical.

Overall the film is quite sentimental that isn't all hard edge and has some substance. One felt the conclusion that love, even if in a non-glamorous small flat in NY, is preferable to living as a mistress in South America as a rich man's illicit plaything.