547. Breakfast At Tiffany’s (1961)

Starring: Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard, Patricia Neal

Director: Blake Edwards

Running Time: 116 mins

Breakfast At Tiffany’s is an American film about a young New York socialite who quickly develops a deep relationship with a man who has just moved into her apartment block, despite her wishes to remain free as a bird.

I loved this film! It’s got a brilliant story that avoids being too soppy and too cheesy, the comedy is absolutely stupid but hilarious, the central performances from Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard are fantastic, and it’s largely a very light form of entertainment that’s both enjoyable and easy-going to watch.

Starting with the brilliant story, it lays the foundations for the typical romantic comedy of the present. However, what this film’s plot does that a lot of modern rom-coms avoid is go a little bit deeper into the lives of the characters, and bring out a lot more emotion.

Nowadays, it’s all about a lot of farce within a romance story that only actually happens at the beginning and the end, but here, although you do get quite a lot of farce, the story shows the unfolding of the two’s relationship, and you see it deepening between them, while also seeing both sides’ own deeper feelings about it.

Speaking of the farce, it takes what can be seen as quite a serious story, and makes it fun and silly. You’ve got parties at every which moment in the apartment block, Holly Golightly returns home every day with yet another man begging for her at her bedroom door, and the hilarious (but terribly stereotypical) Mr. Yunioshi, who screams at Holly every single time she comes in the door, whether she’s got her key or not.

But there are a few moments in this film where it moves a little bit away from the more idealistic lifestyle of a New York socialite, and looks at the impact that living this seemingly fun, but in reality very stressful and solitary life can have, which places even more importance on Holly and Paul.

The performances in this film are also just fantastic. Holly Golightly (played by Audrey Hepburn) is a likeable, independent and innocent woman, and although she’s not the brightest bulb in the bunch, there’s nothing that can stop you adoring her. Then, George Peppard plays Paul Varjak, who works as both the narrator for the story, looking into Holly’s life, while also acting as the Prince Charming in this story, and that fairytale quality makes this all the more enjoyable to watch.

On the whole, then, despite a few moments of seriousness and drama, this film is a largely easy-going and entertaining story that makes it a brilliantly funny and fun film to watch, and that’s why it gets an 8.5.