Breakfast with Kitties
A review of the movie “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”
A few days ago, my mom bought a VCD collection of Audrey Hepburn’s movies and out of curiosity, I put disc one of Breakfast at Tiffany’s in the DVD player. I fell in love with its theme song, “Moon River”, when I was eight years old and I wanted to know if the movie really is as excellent as a lot of people say it is. An hour and a half later, my curiosity was satisfied but I was left hungry for something a little more substantial.
Based on the novella by Truman Capote, Breakfast at Tiffany’s is the story of a young, New York socialite named Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn). She was actually a poor, rural child-bride who ran away from her home and husband to live in New York City. Now, she lives in an apartment with a nameless orange tabby cat and spends her time attending wild parties and dating rich men. She befriends her new neighbor, Paul Varjack (George Peppard), a struggling writer who is “sponsored” by a rich older woman. Their friendship has its ups and downs; Paul disapproves of Holly’s lifestyle and her quest to marry a rich man, and she knows it but refuses to change her ways. On the other hand, she has inspired him to strive for financial independence and start writing again. Threatened that her relationship with Paul would turn into the one thing that she fears most—true love—Holly makes plans to fly to Brazil with the Brazilian millionaire she is dating. Paul is not about to let her get away, and he has it out with her in a typical, Hollywood movie ending.
Breakfast at Tiffany’s was like a time capsule of a period gone by. It was my first time to view a classic film and I was impressed by its rich, vintage scenes, costumes, and props. Unlike more contemporary movies set against the backdrop of New York City, there were no throngs of people on the sidewalks or angry drivers beeping at pedestrians hastily making their way across the street in this film. The lack of human activity gave the city a sense of innocence and tranquility—two qualities the modernized New York City has almost completely lost.
I have read in some articles that Holly Golightly was Audrey Hepburn’s signature role and I can certainly see why. She managed to give a childlike essence to her otherwise cheap, gold-digging character. I did not like Holly Golightly at first. I have never been fond of social climbers, and Holly initially struck me as a shallow, materialistic woman who knows nothing more than how to put a good outfit together and who the richest men under 50 are. But as I observed her character closely, I realized that her aspiration is similar to that of every person: the want for something better. It was subtly implied in the movie that Holly Golightly is actually a high-priced call girl. Since she had little education, this was the only way for her to earn money to support the rich lifestyle she had grown accustomed to. A better alternative to that is to marry someone well-off so that she can achieve financial security and be a part of society’s elite without having to work at all. This get-rich quick mentality is not uncommon, particularly to impoverished women in developing countries and poor urban and rural areas. Some Filipinas even resort to becoming mail-order brides in the hopes of getting married to an American who can give them a “good life” in the States. Because those who belong to the country’s low socio-economic strata have little or no job opportunities, this is the only way they can augment their standard of living.
In spite of Holly’s materialism, she redeemed herself by finding the simple things in life—such as breakfast in front of the display window of the jewelry store, Tiffany & Co., or a trip to the five-and-ten—delightful. I believe that people should continue to hold on to their childlike qualities no matter how challenging their lives become. Having a little fun and keeping an optimistic outlook may not solve all problems, but it gives one hope and makes day to day living easier to bear with.
Breakfast at Tiffany’s has been billed in some quarters as a “romantic comedy”, but let us talk about the film’s romantic angle first. The plot’s love story is really nothing more a very clichéd formula that still appears in movies today. Guy meets girl, girl falls in love with guy (or vice versa), guy and girl fight, girl runs after guy, and the movie ends with a close-up of the couple kissing each other after they realize that they deserve to be together after all. Real life relationships, however, are rarely ever this simple. Love takes a long time to grow, and
I did not find the film’s comedic tricks funny at all. The humor in the movie leaned towards slapstick and had racial slurs. What ruined Breakfast at Tiffany’s for me was the horrible caricature of an Asian-American. Holly’s landlord, Mr. Yunioshi (Mickey Rooney), was portrayed by a Caucasian actor as a bucktoothed, clumsy, grouchy Japanese who spoke English with a heavy accent. I found this very unnecessary. The plot of the movie would not change at all if the landlord’s ethnic background was British, German, or Greek; they clearly made the character act this way on purpose. If getting a few laughs from the audience was the director’s intention, it did not work, at least for me. I found this characterization extremely offensive and stupid.
Though a lot of people claim that Audrey Hepburn’s acting gave life to the movie, I believe that the best actor in Breakfast at Tiffany’s was the nameless cat that Holly kept as a pet. Cats are independent creatures and it is difficult to tame, train, and discipline one for a movie. But Cat (which is what he was called) was very well-behaved and knew its cues like a seasoned actor. Not only that, but based on its body language, Cat seemed to show genuine affection for Audrey Hepburn as well. I find it a little sad that you never see cats act in more contemporary films. People in the movie industry spend less time training animals and dedicate their efforts to computer animation, which requires less time and energy.
Overall, Breakfast at Tiffany’s disappointed me in terms of plot, character development, and its predictable, happy ending. But it is worth watching again, if only to see the kitty’s performance.
