Review of Roman Holiday (1953) by Kenneth L — 31 Dec 2010
A big classic. This is the sort of movie that certain sorts of people go to movies for in the first place (not me, really - I go to movies for ones like Star Wars and Forrest Gump and Spirited Away, but I can appreciate why people would love this movie so much).
It's a major milestone in the romantic comedy genre, and elements of its Cinderella-esque plot have reappeared in countless movies since. It's a universally appealing story about a princess who runs away from her royal duties and ends up spending the first free day of her life in Rome with a journalist who doesn't let on that he knows her true identity.
The best thing about the movie by far is Audrey Hepburn, who won an Oscar for it. She is one of those movie stars about whom one cannot say enough. She seems less like an actress and more like God's gift to humanity.
She may well have been the most beautiful woman who ever lived, in my opinion - it would be between her and Natalie Portman, and they look a good bit alike. To use a clichà (C), she lights up the screen whenever she appears, which is most of the time for this movie.
She was also a splendid actress - it's not necessarily easy to make a pretty princess character sympathetic, but she does it. Without giving anything away, I'll say that I love the movie's ending, and I think she handles that scene especially well.
Gregory Peck plays the journalist, and he's the usual sort of strong straight-laced leading-man type you get in 1950s movies, but he's fine at the role. Eddie Albert is interesting and funny as his photographer; with his beard and vaguely bohemian ways, the character seems like a surprising premonition of the Beat generation.
The movie was shot on location in Rome at a time when most movies were shot on studio backlots, and certainly takes full advantage of its location shooting by going to lots of landmarks and showing them in crystal-clear black-and-white cinematography.
This is a good movie all around, but the real reason to see it is the incomparable Audrey Hepburn.
This review of Roman Holiday (1953) was written by Kenneth L on 31 Dec 2010.
Roman Holiday has generally received very positive reviews.
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