Movie Review: Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

Somehow I had always wanted to see this one, but still knew very little about it.  I guess it's famous.

The characters are immediately interesting and entertaining.  Of course, the most interesting character is the main character - Holly Golightly, played by Audrey Hepburn.  She is a chatterbox, and a New York socialite, but deep down is only there to fill some sort of emotional void, and possibly just to survive.  Even when she nearly succeeds at gaining the rich husband, he is ashamed of her, and it's not really ideal.  Her past relationships are not ideal either, since she married an older guy she was incompatible with.  And finally, her last relationship is maybe the best she has had, but it does not seem promising to me.  Hollywood made it into a romantic amazing finish, but I hear that the Truman Capote version was different.  Since neither of them have money or direction, I have doubts about their success together.  But the guy really loves her - Fred, or Paul Varjak - he is a very patient man, and it's not just a flighty love.  I think at the end Holly Golightly realizes the futility of going after the rich men, not sure how much she truly loves Paul, but she could use him in her life.

The story has some strange twists and turns, and pushes the envelope a bit for 1961, but that should be expected for a Truman Capote novel.  The story is overall very good and entertaining.

The signature song, "Moon River" won the Academy Award.  The movie begins and ends with the song.  It's a good song, but is still in the older style.  Movie music didn't get contemporary until the late 60s.