Breakfast at Tiffany's

Blake Edwards, USA, 1961, 115 minutes

“...only thing that does any good is to jump in a cab and go to Tiffany’s. Calms me down right away.”

Did you know that a brilliant cut diamond, no matter what size, has 57 facets. Just like Heinz. Amazing, eh? Just one of the many things I found out while looking at diamonds in Amsterdam. However, looking at diamonds in Amsterdam just doesn’t seem right. Why? Simple – it feels wrong because it isn’t 1960s New York, there’s no Holly Golightly and this isn’t Tiffany’s.

Breakfast at Tiffany’s is one of the greatest romantic comedies ever made. It tells the story of Holly Golightly (Hepburn), a goodtime girl looking for a wealthy man, and Paul Verjak (Peppard), a writer being “sponsored” by a wealthy older woman. Anyone who has read the novella by Truman Capote on which the movie is based will know that it is a much more cynical and darker story – a tale of a gold digging call girl and a gay gigolo – but the film shows a more inocent Holly. Although you know what she does, it’s left unsaid with the movie focusing on the character not the “career”. From the opening scene of Holly eating a pastry outside Tiffany & Co. in the early morning, to the ending in the rain, this movie sums up life in early ‘60s New York.

This movie has it all – comedy, drama, romance, the beautiful Audrey Hepburn, a great supporting cast, great direction, beautiful cinematography and a truly memorable soundtrack. It even has a happy ending. And although it may be different from the book, sometimes a happy ending is what you really need.

Review by Karl "Carlito Baby" Byrne
Taken from EUFS Programme Spring 2004