Desayuno con diamantes

BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY's is an exciting and entertaining romantic comedy about a charismatic girl from high society and an unrealized writer. Film is loosely based on Truman Capote's novella of the same name.

A young and elegantly dressed lady walks around and looking in a shop windows in an early morning. After looking into the shop's windows, she strolls home. Outside her apartment, she fends off her date from the disastrous night before. Later, she meets, a pleasant and somewhat confused writer, the new tenant in her building. They develop a special relationship. She wants to marry a rich man. However, her new friend slowly falls in love with her. Both must give up of some important goals in their lives for the sake of love...

This is an unconvincing and provocative story with a touch of an inappropriate comedy, romance and melodrama. However, this distorted reality has a certain depth. The story of a nobody's-but everyone's girl is, given her past, a naive and painful at the same time. A quiet and insecure writer with an obvious problem of writer's block and hands of a beautiful and rich older lady around his neck enters in her life. It is a quite confusing situation in life.

Costume design is exquisite, the song "Moon River" is haunting as a reflection of fears, turmoil and friendship.

Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly / Lula Mae Barnes is an irresistible, irritating, bumbling and gentle woman with two names. She constantly flees away from itself. Holly is "the real fake" and "a wild thing" at the same time. Lula Mae is a person from whom Holly escapes. Ms. Hepburn is a beautiful and gentle actress, exceptional comedienne, who is an ideal choice for this role. George Peppard as Paul Varjak is often set aside as an observer. He was not the right choice for this role. George just can not follow a "twisting" step of the unreliable Holly. Mr. Edwards has tried to equalize their characters. They are unhappy, unfulfilled and they differ from some moral standards. Their relationship is based on an unconditional friendship. There is no a chemistry or love sparks. He has, in an elusive and unreliable girl, found an inspiration in his life. She has found a man who will, regardless of her excesses and lies, always be beside her and lend her a hand when she falls.

Their support are Patricia Neal (Mrs. Emily Eustace "2E" Failenson) as a cool rich woman with a beautiful smile and a magnetic gaze. Martin Balsam as O.J. Berman is very funny as a Hollywood agent. Mickey Rooney as I.Y. Yunioshi is an inappropriate and hackneyed cliché.

This is an odd collection of turbulent and false feelings, which is a comic and melodramatic at the same time, and even occasionally pleasant to watch.

Checking out both the original novel and the Wikipedia article on Breakfast At Tiffany's I was surprised to see how different Truman Capote's vision of this story was. Capote who wanted Marilyn Monroe cast as Holly Golightly lived to see Audrey Hepburn make his literary creation one of her best cinematic creations. I think given Marilyn's track record for behavioral problems on film sets, Capote, Blake Edwards the director, and everyone else concerned with Breakfast At Tiffany's probably dodged a bullet.

Capote's story is set in the Forties and the film is contemporary 1961 when it was filmed. There's no real plot to it, Capote did a character study and so is this. It's about two people and the fascination that George Peppard's character develops for the unconventionality of Holly Golightly as Hepburn essays her.

Hepburn is the kept woman of a cross section of the male species and Peppard is the boy toy of another woman who rents in their apartment, Patricia Neal. Neal who would win her Oscar the following year for Hud has her character as curiously underdeveloped. It's the main weakness of Breakfast At Tiffany's.

The strength is of course Audrey Hepburn who took Capote's character completely over and it's her vision of the story that we see when the film is broadcast. She's an amoral minx who in the end realizes that her life is really meaningless.

Breakfast At Tiffany's won two Oscars both for Henry Mancini for Best Musical Scoring and Best Original Song for Moon River. That song is best known for Andy Williams's rendition, but there are also superb recordings by Frank Sinatra and Tony Martin. Hepburn got a nomination for Best Actress and the film was also nominated for Best Art&Set Decoration for a color film and Best Screenplay adapted from another medium, in this case Capote's novella.

Considering all the changes made, maybe the credit should have read inspired by Truman Capote's work. In any event this film belongs in the top rank of the works of Audrey Hepburn.

Breakfast at Tiffany's is a mostly charming film which serves as a wonderful showcase for the great Audrey Hepburn. In her portrayal of Holly Golightly Hepburn created one of the most iconic characters in film history. This is a memorable film and it's Hepburn who makes it so. She is at the center of everything that goes on in the film and you can't help but be charmed by Holly Golightly. The movie has its flaws, most notably one incredibly unfortunate casting decision, but all these years later it is rightly remembered fondly by most who have had the pleasure of seeing it.

Holly Golightly makes her living as an escort, but it's not as unseemly as it might seem. What she really is more than anything else is an extroverted Manhattan socialite around whom all kinds of craziness swirls. That craziness is best typified in a famous party scene in Holly's apartment. There are so many people crammed into Holly's little apartment, there's so much going on that you don't even know where to look. But inevitably the eye is drawn back to Holly herself. The character has such style and charisma, as of course does the actress playing her. Everyone remembers the famous black dress but the beauty and elegance of Audrey Hepburn shine through no matter what Holly Golightly's wearing. Heck, she could wear a sheet and make it seem elegant. In fact she does. And that sums up Holly Golightly rather nicely. Beautiful, charming, engaging...and more than a touch eccentric.

It's Audrey's movie through and through and she is never anything less than wonderful in her performance. Playing opposite her in the key male role is George Peppard and he at times comes across as being a little wooden, maybe somewhat dull. But perhaps his character is just suffering in comparison to Holly Golightly who is many things, dull certainly not one of them. Buddy Ebsen has a small role but an important one as it is his character who provides some insight into who Holly really is, or at least who she used to be. We come to learn that Holly has pretty much reinvented herself and there are some wistful moments as we see why she may have felt the need to do so. There will be some roadblocks thrown up in the way of Holly's seemingly blissful existence and as she confronts these obstacles there are times where you know she's doing the wrong thing. But you love her anyway and just hold out hope she'll get it right in the end. That's the irresistible charm of Audrey Hepburn working its magic.

It must be said that for all its charm the film does have one serious black mark against it. Mickey Rooney's portrayal of Holly's bucktoothed, slant-eyed stereotyped Japanese neighbor Mr. Yunioshi is absolutely appalling. It's the type of thing you'd expect from a film made in the 1920s. By 1961 you would have hoped people would have known better. Apparently not. Every time this character appears on the screen you can't help but cringe. The character takes you out of the movie watching experience entirely. You don't see him as a character named Mr. Yunioshi, all you see is Mickey Rooney in hideous yellowface makeup. Awful. And for a character meant to serve as comic relief, even had an Asian actor been cast there is no way around the fact that the character is just not funny at all. It's the one major flaw in a film which, while maybe not an all-time classic, is certainly charming and enjoyable throughout. And as a showcase for the talents and elegance of Audrey Hepburn it could not work any better.

An army of fans consider this Hepburn's signature role and in many ways it is, even if she overcame miscasting to portray it. Based on a rather biting novella by Truman Capote, he (somewhat surprisingly) wanted Marilyn Monroe to play the role. The casting of Hepburn couldn't be more different, yet she made it her own and in the process created an icon that is every bit as lasting as Marilyn's skirt-over-the-subway-grate or Bette Davis's off-the-shoulder, chain-smoking Margo Channing. She plays an offbeat, effortlessly sophisticated party girl in New York City who subsists on the favors of various rich men. Though her livelihood couldn't be more tasteless, somehow Hepburn's presence adds a sheen of innocence and sweetness to it. When blocked writer Peppard moves in upstairs ("kept" by married socialite Neal), the two find themselves developing a friendship which eventually begins to turn into love. But since they are both people who use their bodies to earn their keep and are heavily dependent on others, the chances of their relationship lasting are slim at best. To read the above synopsis, one would expect a gritty, vulgar film. However, in director Blake Edwards' hands and with Hepburn floating around in exquisite Givenchy gowns, the movie is a candy box of color, style, humor and romance.

Even when she's hungover or just getting home from an all-nighter (as in the famous opening scene), Hepburn strikes a graceful and glamorous figure. In fact, it's when she's trying to act disoriented or disheveled that her performance is at it's weakest. It's as if she was so inherently stylish that she had to try (too) hard to present anything else! She does a very fine job with the role, even if the character's past is nothing short of preposterous. Peppard comes off as blandly attractive, but wooden. His arrogance regarding his role (fiercely protecting the traditional leading man image) not only undercut his own performance, but also slighted that of Neal's who was diminished as a result. However, sentimental filmgoers probably prefer his more heroic approach and Neal would certainly recoup her losses, earning an Oscar a short time later for "Hud". The most controversial aspect of the film is Rooney's portrayal of an Asian man who lives above Hepburn and who is awakened at all hours by her lifestyle. Whether or not one is offended by the over-the-top stereotype of the buck teeth and slant eyes, the role is not funny anyway! It's all way too forced and obvious, with his pratfalls in sight long before they occur. (A lamp exists RIGHT over his bed for the express purpose of giving him something to hit his head on continuously. Move it, already!) There are many memorable moments in the film including a sequence of Hepburn and Peppard doing things they've never done before, Hepburn sitting on the fire escape plaintively singing the Oscar-winning song "Moon River" (which is used throughout the film by master composer Henry Mancini) and wacky party scene (a prelude to Edwards' "The Party"?) in which all sorts of outre things take place including the cry "Timber!" when a tipsy guest begins to collapse. There's a surprising frankness, for the time, regarding Peppard and Neal's relationship. It seems to be one of the earliest Hollywood films in which the leading man is implied to be nude under the covers in his bed. The film is not without its flaws. Some of the dialogue is annoyingly indulgent and the storyline is fairly patchy (with a tacked on ending.) Still, with the sparkling presence of Hepburn (in some mind-blowing hats and costumes) and the slick work of Edwards, it is easy entertainment.

There are movies that are loved because of the cast, the music and style, not for the interesting plot, wonderful characterizations or snappy dialogue. This famous movie, Breakfast at Tiffany, has been lovingly regarded for years because of the wonderful Audrey Hepburn and the talented Henry Mancini. Moon River is one of the best movie songs ever. But there is, surprisingly, not much to say overall about this movie.

Two prostitutes become friends. George Peppards' role could have been played by anyone breathing and Micky Rooney was too ridiculous to be funny. The always superb Patricia Neal did not have much to do. Only Buddy Epsen moved me.

There are a few noteworthy scenes. But, Breakfast at Tiffany's is the best example I've seen of a lovely cake with a big hole in the middle.