BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S

REVIEWED BY CARISSA HORTON

Our rating: 3 out of 5

Because of: sexual implications, adultery

Rated:

The desire to improve one’s conditions has always been one of the strongest yearnings humans possess. Beautifully young Holly Golightly’s (Audrey Hepburn) longings are no different. Holly’s methods, however, are questionable with her employment being a Gentleman’s Escort. Her one dream is to offer her younger brother, at the moment performing his civic duty as a soldier, monetary support. Though she is hardly beloved by respectable citizens, new neighbor Paul Varjak (George Peppard) finds her sweetly innocent qualities endearing. His ringing her bell for the use of a phone sets the stage for this perilously delightful, romantically-oriented drama.

Paul realizes immediately that Holly is not your average, ordinary girl. She nicknames him “Fred,” after her brother who she claims he resembles, and behaves as if he were her dearest friend. Holly prefers the sparkling nightlife to the dull drudge of ordinary days. And when life begins to turn its darkest, she embarks on her special journey to Tiffany’s, where she’ll gaze in the windows and consume a breakfast consisting of hot coffee and cruller. According to Holly, Tiffany’s is the real world; beautiful and satisfying. When she unearths such a place for herself, where joy is constant, then she will always remain in its presence.

As we could naturally expect, Paul’s affections shift toward love, even though his interests are supposedly invested elsewhere. She even encourages him to begin writing again, a pastime he had long ago forsaken. Unfortunately, Holly refuses to even engage in a romantic entanglement with a man who is not rich, and Paul is in the sphere opposite of wealthy. Her attentions waver constantly, first affections streaming toward the dumpy, overweight multimillionaire Rusty Trawler (Stanley Adams). When he fails, she hooks up with gorgeously dark José da Silva Pereira (José Luis de Villalonga) who is in possession of a fabulous inheritance.

All this Paul watches in pain and horror with little power to alter her rapid fluctuations from lover to lover. Her greatest dreams are to be happy, and yet with her choices she makes herself more miserable than she could even imagine. She claims men are “rats” or “super-rats” with their treatment of her, yet she encourages that treatment from all save Paul. She desires freedom, but in so doing locks herself in a cage of her own creation. We are the witnesses to this terribly poignant tale of humans suffering from their own transgressions. Quite honestly, if not for the lesson learned and the melancholy beauty of the telling, Breakfast at Tiffany’s wouldn’t be worth the table it’s served on. And yet, it is redeemable. The heartbreak of ill choices and the redemption that occurs when going up the right path once again, is deliciously appealing.

Unfortunately, not all content can be hailed as magnificent. Holly makes constant references on how gentlemen will pay her for the “powder room.” In other words, our sweetly beautiful heroine is a prostitute, though such vulgar wording is never used. Even Paul appears to be paid for his “male services” by an upper class woman who is hiding him from her husband. She even goes so far as to rent the apartment he inhabits. Holly usually wakes up unclothed. She opens her door once to Paul with her shirt clutched in front, and without caring of the improprieties, turns her back and slides it on in his full view. We, of course, view no nudity. Paul is once seen in bed from the waist up, apparently nude. Though her behavior appears innocent-minded, Holly calmly snuggles right up to him on top of the covers. The only true praise we can give Holly’s “morals” is that she refuses to bring men home with her and bolts the door tightly against their entrance. A few kisses are shared, and there is the unhappy question as to whether Holly and Paul have engaged in sexual activity. The viewer will have to decide. Drinking and smoking are enormously important to the plot, and occasionally Holly will imbibe far too much than is good for her. Stealing also becomes an issue, and though it is only a minor theft, the occurrence is present. A domestic cat, though not purposefully abused, is tossed about a few times, and is deliberately released from a car during a rainstorm. A girl at the tender age of fourteen was married to a much older man, and though it doesn’t seem he abused her, there is objection to their joining. Only a few minor swear words emerge; nothing as you would hear had the film been made nowadays.

On the positive side, Holly finally discovers what love can do to change a life. True love uplifts and enhances; it does not bind or condemn. Lives can be reversed from walking hand in hand with the devil. People can alter their horrific existence, and become worthwhile citizens. The humor is at times light, though usually overpowered by the sheer emotional conflicts occurring in the character’s lives. Audrey Hepburn’s performance of Holly is positively haunting. Her rendition of the ever-popular “Moon River” moved me to tears on more than one occasion. This may very well be one of her greatest performances, even more so than Eliza Dolittle from My Fair Lady. Highly talented Mickey Rooney has a brief part in this film as well. His role is such that I would never have recognized him had I not expected his presence. The dialogue is wonderful; the storyline filled with unexpected twists.

For myself, I fell wholeheartedly in love with dejected Holly and her desperate lover Paul. Their struggles are so very human, their characters so very likable. They force you to look beyond outward appearances and search for the heart of each individual. I laughed with them, cried with them, and in the end celebrated joyously with them. So sit back, grab a scone and enjoy a personal Breakfast at Tiffany’s with Audrey Hepburn.