Marlene Krajewski

Mrs. Lodge

APLAC Period 5

12 February 2012

Breakfast at Tiffany’s

The 1960s in America were a time of social revolution, an era during which many lived a carefree lifestyle giving it the name the “Swinging Sixties”. Martin Jurow and Richard Sheperd’s depiction of Truman Capote’s novel (1958), in the movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961), focuses on the life of Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn), a poor girl doing whatever it takes to find love and wealth in New York City during the early 1960s (Wikipedia.com). Holly lives a somewhat scandalous life involving an unrespectable job and associating with people she calls “rats”, but still manages to unintentionally make her modest neighbor, Paul Varjak (George Peppard), fall in love with her.  Ms. Golightly is especially “crazy about Tiffany’s,” often going there to look through the windows while eating breakfast (Memorable quotes for Breakfast at Tiffany’s). Creating both Audrey Hepburn’s infinite fame and Hollywood stereotyping by Mickey Rooney’s depiction of I.Y. Yunioshi, Breakfast at Tiffany’s can only be described as timeless.  

                A timeless movie is one that has relevance, character development, and a cast that will forever be remembered for that movie. Fitting all of this criteria, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and the name Audrey Hepburn will always be synonymous and will be remembered for years to come, just as they have for the last fifty years. The biggest proof lies in the picture of Audrey Hepburn holding a cigarette holder being among the most iconic images of 20^th century American cinema, and being remembered even today (Wikipedia.com).

                Without relevance, a movie can be torturous to sit through. With it, the viewer becomes more intrigued and continues watching, as they see how they directly relate to the characters. Using a “girl and boy become friends, boy falls in love with girl, girl rejects boy” plot, Breakfast at Tiffany’s seems like an extremely typical romantic comedy. Its originality comes from what drives Ms. Holly Golightly – a future of riches and love. When Holly meets her neighbor, Fred Varjak, it is evident that both are smitten with each other. But she thinks of him as more of a friend, referring to him as “Fred” since he reminds her of her brother. Due to Paul’s lack of money, Holly does not realize that true love is standing right in front of her, and continues looking, until she finds it in a wealthy Brazilian man named Jose, for whom she said she would, “…give up smoking if he asked…” (Memorable quotes for Breakfast at Tiffany’s). Her desire for a rich successful life overpowers the feelings she feels towards Paul who she said she would marry for his money in a minute, even though that did not matter since he did not have much. Paul remains by her side, and finally in the end it turns out to be worth his wait, as the movie ends with him, Holly, and the no-name cat sharing an embrace when Holly finally realizes that love is not about the money, and that she and Paul are perfect for each other. Holly and Paul share a typical movie romance, where Holly does not realize what she has until she loses everything else.

                Even though Audrey Hepburn’s introvert personality made it difficult for her to play the extrovert character of Holly Golightly, Hepburn was nominated for an Oscar for the role (Awards for Breakfast at Tiffany’s). Holly Golightly lives carelessly in her nearly empty apartment, working in the “powder room” and having many men fall head over heels for her, only for her to ignore them completely. She cares only about herself, her brother, and the cat, as she leaves her old life as Lou Lou May behind, to become an exquisite character that is seen as “phony” by others. Her actions are mostly selfish and oriented towards money, until she becomes close with Paul Varjak. Their relationship seems to be going in the right direction, until her strive towards riches overpowers the true love. After she ignores Paul’s feelings towards her, his only response is to give her money, saying that it is, “fifty dollars for the powder room,” and leave her (Memorable quotes for Breakfast at Tiffany’s). The movie goes through the changes of Golightly, from selfish and ungrateful, to caring.

                Audrey Hepburn’s fame clearly came and is sustained through her excellent acting in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, becoming an icon of the 60s, but even better was that of the character I.Y. Yunioshi, Holly Golightly’s angry neighbor. Yunioshi was played by Mickey Rooney, and in order to do so he had to paint his face a different color and wear false teeth, since Yunioshi was a caricature of a Japanese man. The movie was protested by many, and regarded as racism. Rooney’s portrayal of a crazy photographer set the standard for the use of stereotypes in Hollywood. Though Richard Sheperd and Mickey Rooney both express regret in the casting, saying that they never meant to offend anyone, having Rooney, a Caucasian man, play a Japanese man only made the movie even more memorable (Wikipedia.com). His fame comes mostly from his anger when Holly Golightly forgets her key, and rings to his room to open the door, as he often threatens her that he will call the police,” (Memorable quotes for Breakfast at Tiffany’s).

                Though to some, the movie is regarded as an, “old-school chick flick,” and, “a dull, watered-down adaptation that is inexplicably revered,” by some, it has generally good ratings, reaching mostly five stars (Rottentomatoes.com).

                Breakfast at Tiffany’s remains a classic as its fame stretches from the 20^th century to the 21^st, creating endless fame for Audrey Hepburn even past the end of her life in “The Audrey Hepburn Story”  and ranking her within the top 100 greatest performances of all time by Premiere Magazine (Biography for Audrey Hepburn). The romantic comedy is the most timeless of its genre, and will continue to represent the typical story of a girl in New York craving romance and prosperity more than anything.

Works Cited

IMDb. Awards for Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961). http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054698/awards. (Accessed January 12, 2012).

IMDb. Biography for Audrey Hepburn. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000030/bio  (Accessed January 12, 2012).

IMDb. Memorable quotes for Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961). http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054698/quotes. (Accessed January 12, 2012).

Rotten Tomatoes. Breakfast at Tiffany’s Reviews (1961). http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/breakfast_at_tiffanys/reviews/?sort=rotten (Accessed January 12, 2012).

Wikipedia. Breakfast at Tiffany’s (Film). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakfast_at_Tiffany%27s_%28film%29#Cast. (Accessed January 12, 2012).