THE PLACE TO GO WHEN YOU GET THE MEAN REDS! "BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S" – THE MOVIE!

If you recall, I have actually reviewed the book this is adapted from on the blog (click here!). I was dubious as to whether I should or shouldn’t put it here a second time but then I watched the film and realized something: They are literally two different works of art! I didn’t know what to make of this discovery (not that it’s anything too extremely new for anyone further immersed in the cinema than myself of course). Honestly, if Audrey Hepburn wasn’t such a DELIGHTFUL, no scratch that, PHENOMENAL Holly Golightly I would write the film down as a “disappointing Hollywood makeover”. As it is, well, the whole thing is based on a novella – not even a book – and OK artistic license is an acceptable thing but still… There is such a thing as too much of a good thing: S
The story is basically the same as the book. A young writer called Paul Varjak, his neighbor the inimitable Holly Golightly and her crazy life and her nameless cat (poor nameless slob). (The cat is second only to Audrey Hepburn in the film as far as artistic achievement is concerned in my humble opinion). ..
There are, however “little” additions and “subtractions” from the film. Here, Paul Varjak is the “kept man” of a rich and married decorator lady (in the novel, he’s just a starving writer). Naturally, the fact that he is torn between his true love, Holly and his “patron” make a nice Hollywoody twist but I found it slightly pointless and stale. A lot of the action is thus based around the patron – Ok, I get that it has to be “tied in” and it makes it very convenient; HOWEVER, there is nothing at all forcing them to squeeze the film into a shorter timeline, they might have let it flow a tiny bit longer… What else? Mag Wildwood is almost completely axed from the film (she has one short appearance and that’s it). Joe Bell’s bar is axed. Oh and just incidentally, the end of the story is completely and utterly turned on its head. I need to check and see whether Mr. Capote was alive at the time this was filmed (my common sense tells me probably not) but I would be fascinated to find out what he made of this…
“Then why on earth” I hear you exclaim”are you reviewing this in the first place? I thought we had agreed you only wrote about things you liked…” The thing is, I did like it. It’s great. It’s sweet. It’s worth watching for Audrey Hepburn and the cat alone(The film was nominated for 3 Oscars one of which was Best Actress so I'm not alone in thinking this. The other two nominations were Art Direction and Writing. It won a further 2 Oscars - Best Song and Best Music). If you haven’t read the book, you will LOVE it and think I’m mad. It’s a lovely, quintessentially 60’s Hollywood film. (Infact the director, Blake Edwards is also someone you probably actually know. If the name doesn't seem familiar he directed most of the Pink Panther films!) However, if you read the book and enjoyed it, just… Think of it as a different work of art all together… Then you should be all right…