Breakfast at Tiffany’s review-some books are better than films
Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a 1961 American romantic comedy film directed by Blake Edwards, written by George Axelrod, adapted from Truman Capote’s 1958 novella of the same name, and stars Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly, a naïve, eccentric café society girl who falls in love with a struggling writer (George Peppard).
At first this story seems lurid and defeatist but as it advances and the romance evolves it becomes quite sweet. Two desperate,used people find hope through their connection with each other. They find that Love can be real and one of their common threads is the fact both of them have been courtesans of a sort although neither was an outright prostitute. Capote’s novella contained none of the positive or hopeful consequences. The movie does a disservice to the book. If you can’t acknowledge that Holly Golightly is a prostitute, nothing she does makes sense.
All this euphemism makes the movie absurd and silly.
Whatever public persona defined Truman Capote, he could paint amazing images with words. In terms of imagery and lucid description, I’ve never read anyone better within his zeitgeist. What he chose to write about wasn’t really in my genre, but even when it wasn’t I was amazed at his talent.
Read Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Whether it’s your cup of tea or not, you’ll have the experience of reading a story told by a real writer’s writer. Not arty-farty or inaccessible like Faulkner or Fitzgerald and not primitive like Hemingway, Capote wrote readable, beautifully structured paragraphs that often have you putting down the book and pondering what you’ve read in a state of awe. I rewrote that to avoid saying awesome.
Although the film can get a bit dull and boring at times, including the romance. The artistic choices, costume design and witty dialogues are something I can definitely appreciate about this film. I can understand the hype about Audrey in this movie as one of her most iconic roles, because she stands out. Complex female characters are always appreciated as well as a so called ‘unlikeable’ character too. The imperfection is what is so truly great about this Film.
