Audrey Hepburn in Amsterdam - Part 2

Last week Thursday, the 19th, I went to the Filmmuseum to watch “Breakfast at Tiffany's”. I went by train and by tram. The tram stopped where I had to get out at 19h20. I was too late I think. The movie would begin within 10 minutes. I had to run. When I arrived I heard that the show was sold out. And to put your name on the waitlist was impossible too; the hall was full of people. I was a bit disappointed, why didn't I call to make reservations. This won't happen to me anymore. Then I thought: now I'm here, I can watch the documentaries completely and I don't have to worry about anything. First I read all the press cuttings carefully and watched pictures of her from several movies such as “Roman Holiday”, “Sabrina”, “Funny Face”, “The Children's Hour”, “Breakfast at Tiffany's”, “How to Steal a Million”, and others which I can't recall anymore. Then I watched the full interview of Henk van der Meyden with her. Not 80' long as I mentioned once, but 60'. The interview was made in 1983. I was just born. I stepped in when the interview was halfway. Thereafter I watched it from the beginning to the end. They talked about her career, how was she discovered, did you know she got the part of Gigi and Princess Anne in the same month? Other questions were: does she watch her movies, why did she refuse roles such as Anne Frank in “The Diary of Anne Frank”, Maria in “The West Side Story” and Maria in “The Sound of Music”. Other topics were her ‘man’ Robert, how did she meet him; her children Sean and Luca, her relation with Hubert de Givenchy, her views on life, is she an optimist or a pessimist, and many other things. I believe most of you know all these things, because you've read several biographies of her. I haven't yet. Next, I watched a tape about several fan books or scrapbooks of fans. One of them was from Hanneke Groenteman. The other fan, I can't recall anymore. They showed every page of the scrapbooks. There were a lot of pictures cut out of newspapers and magazines. After the fan books there was a documentary about her work for Unicef. I saw images from her in Somalia, other places too which I can't recall anymore, parts of her interview with Larry King and several speeches of her, for example at Brown University. Because I had to catch the last train at 22h30, I couldn't watch the whole documentary. I left the museum around 21h50.
A few weeks ago I asked your opinion about which movie you would go seeing if you had the chance to go. Most of you said “Funny Face”. Last week Saturday, the 21st, I called the Filmmuseum to make reservations for “Funny Face” for my mother, my brother and me. She, who answered the phone, told me it was sold out, but she was willing to put us on the waitlist and she said to me that they will start to ‘give away’ the not picked up reservations half an hour before the showing. I thought: if we arrive early, we will increase our chances to get our tickets. And so it happened. Last Monday, the 23rd, around 17h00, we left home. We had to go somewhere else before we really left for Amsterdam. We parked our car at the car park. Thereafter we arrived at the Filmmuseum at 21h15. While my mother and brother were looking at the press cuttings, the pictures and the documentary, I was waiting for my turn. Luck was at our side. At 21h45 we were sitting in the theatre. I told my mother that forum members recommended me this. It must be good. And you were all right. It was awesome. Audrey, Fred and Kay were great. I love all the songs. From “Funny Face” to “How Long Has This Been Going on?”, from “Bonjour, Paris!” to “On How to Be Lovely”. Marvellous! I love the scene when Jo walks down the stairs with her arms in the air. You can see Audrey had a lot of fun doing this film. Look at her smile during “Bonjour Paris!” and “On How to Be Lovely”. And not to forget, she really can dance. The “Basal Metabolism” was amazing. After the movie I asked my mother and brother which scene they found the funniest. My mother said the scene where Jo and Dick cause a disaster at the party, the décor falls and the fountain starts to spin around. My brother said the scene where a woman is yelling at a man, the man gives her a smack in the face and then she says “Je t’aime.” My funniest scene was when Dick was giving a performance with his jacket and his umbrella. I didn’t know you could do these things with an umbrella. I would better start to practice.
Last Thursday, the 26th, I called the Filmmuseum to make reservations for “My Fair Lady” and for “De Plantage”. I explain the latter later on. She, who answered the phone, said there still were tickets. I made reservations for one person. My father and mother couldn’t come with me and my brother wasn’t in the mood. Last Friday I went to the Filmmuseum by train and by tram. I arrived at 16h00 and was early. I picked up my reservation for “De Plantage”. I also bought a ticket for the exposition. I went immediately to the exposition. Varjak has told us everything about it before. He was very accurate and precise. I saw film posters, pictures, press cuttings, magazines, Audrey’s ballet shoes, the letter from Robert, the scrapbooks from Hanneke and co and many other things. I saw the computer with 104 different versions of “Moon River”. I also saw a letter from Audrey to her friend Sonya Gaskell. There were also a few portraits, made by a photographer, of which you will get to know more shortly. The 6 Givenchy outfits were beautiful. I could look at them for hours. Taking pictures wasn’t allowed. What a pity, but it’s understandable. In the room where the outfits were located, they were showing parts of the documentary “Gardens of the World” for which Audrey received an Emmy in 1993. I didn’t see it completely because of a lack of time. Her voice is so warm, kind and restful. You really can’t guess from which country she is when you hear her voice. I would call it International English and it’s so perfect.
At 17h00 “De Plantage” began. You translate it with ‘The Plantation’ or ‘The Estate’. It’s a program presented by Hanneke Groenteman, the person from the fan books and who was the main organizer of the exposition. She is an Audrey Hepburn fan from the very beginning. She went to “Roman Holiday” 15 times when it came out in the Netherlands for the first time in 1953. About the program now, it’s a kind of a talk show. There were also 3 guests who are also active in the movie world, 2 actors and a reviewer. They talked about when they first hear about Audrey, what they found of her, which their favourite scene was. I saw 3 scenes from 3 different movies. The favourite scene of the female reviewer was a scene from “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” in which Holly is making herself ready, she’s brushing her teeth and putting her clothes on, searching for her shoes. The reviewer added to this that the character really becomes Audrey. The character could be anybody but she transforms to Audrey. A phoney? She’s a real phoney. The male actor chose a scene from “Roman Holiday” in which Princess Anne and Joe say goodbye to each other in the car. The actor added to this that Audrey played it very natural. He also said that she is very pure from the outside, but also from the inside. The female actor’s favourite scene was from “Love in the Afternoon” in which Ariane and mr. Flannagan are picnicking. She found Gary wooden and Audrey very relaxed. She pointed to the passage when he’s trying to get rid of the flower on his ear and the chicken bone. Conversely, Audrey throws the chain away undisturbed. Next, the reviewer told a story about when she met Audrey for the first time. It was in The Hague in a suite of a hotel of which I can’t recall the name anymore, in 1988. She had an interview with her. Afterwards Audrey asked her if she had any children. She said yes. Thereafter Audrey asked her if she had any pictures of her baby. She said yes and she showed them. Before she left, Audrey insisted to make a sandwich for her and her colleague, a photographer who was able to make more than 1 picture. More wasn’t allowed, but they made an exception because he was nervous when they entered the suite. The reviewer told he wasn’t nervous at all. He was just faking it. Eventually he made 3 pictures. At the exposition you can see these 3 pictures he made. A couple of days later, the baby received a postcard from Audrey. This is another proof of the kindness of Audrey. Then the audience could ask questions if they had any. The program ended with a scene from “Wait until Dark”. It’s a scene in which Susy kills Roat. I almost jumped up when Roat graps Susy’s ankle.
At 18h20 I bought my ticket for My Fair Lady. I had enough time, so I went back to the exposition. I made notes of the disposition of everything. If you want, I can put this picture online. It is only to give you an image of how the exposition does look like. I listened once more to other versions of “Moon River”. Then it was time to go to the theatre. The movie began at 19h14, almost a quarter too late, because of a problem with the projector. The subtitles have to be projected on the screen. They fixed it. They also announced that there would be a break, but that didn’t matter. It was worth it to wait. The film was overwhelming. Audrey and Rex were splendid. I love all the songs. My favourite songs are “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly”, “I Could Have Danced All Night” and “On the Street Where You Live”. Audrey looks astounding at the Ascot race and breathtaking when she’s at the Embassy ball. Eliza was very funny. Especially the way she talks and when she’s very mad at Higgins. He was very harsh on Eliza. But deep inside of him there is still something good. Thanks to Eliza, he gets through and finds himself. This is why I also love the song “I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face”. Pickering is a bit softer than Henry but he has a heart. He really cares for Eliza, although he might have forgotten her once when he’s triumphing and singing “You Did It” with Higgins. I found the jokes of Higgins very amusing. For example: when he’s saying to Pickering that Alfie is a born orator, because he uses alliterations and is very good at persuading people. The lyrics of “I’m an Ordinary Man” were very hilarious. I found it very regrettable that they had Audrey’s voice dubbed when she’s singing. She took singing lessons for this role. She practiced very hard. I saw the version of “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly” performed by Audrey in her own voice. It wasn’t so bad. Not bad at all. It was a very mean thing to do having her voice dubbed. For the rest, the film was outstanding. After the movie I signed the guestbook of the exposition quickly, because I had to catch the last train home.
I initially posted the above at a forum. To read the preceding posts, please click on this link. If you want to get to know more about Audrey, please visit Audrey Hepburn - L'ange des enfants.

Audrey Hepburn in Amsterdam - Part 1

Yesterday I went with my dad to the Filmmuseum and watched two films of Audrey. When I entered the Filmmuseum, I saw a lot of pictures, press cuttings, artwork and so on of Audrey. As Varjak already stated, it really is a temple for Audrey addicts. I haven't been to the exhibition, which I regret now a little. Well, now on to the movies. The first was "The Unforgiven". It was a great film. Audrey and Burt were great in this one. What funny was in this film was that when Rachel says yes to Charlie, she actually doesn't mean it. She wants Ben, but Ben doesn't show his feelings for her. For example the scene with Ben and Rachel on the horse. He only wants to protect her. Later on, when the battle against the Kiowa's is finished, he acknowledges it. At the end of the movie I thought all 4 would be killed by the Kiowa's, but fortunately her brother came to help them out. The second was "The Children's Hour". Great movie too. Personally I think it was better than the Unforgiven. Audrey and Shirley were great in this one, James too. I liked Audrey's hair in this film. A funny scene in the movie is when Joe drives twice around before he leaves the driveway. That little girl, what is her name again,... Mary, she was very mean. How could she do that to Karen and Martha. The end was really sad, but it was very good, the best part of the film in my opion. Between these two movies I saw a part of the two documentaries Varjak already mentioned. About the audience, there were people of different generations. The majority were aged people. I guess they had seen this movie when they were as old as I am now. I think I was the youngest in the audience. There are a lot of people of my age at this forum, so I think it's not unnatural.
Today I went to "Roman Holiday". I want to tell you a little story. I hadn't made reservations for this movie. When I showed up, there was sheet of paper pasted on the window saying Roman Holiday sold out. There still were other showings. But I came especially to Amsterdam to see this film. I was disappointed at the beginning. Then I heard a man talking about a waitlist. A few moments later I saw a woman asking the cashier to put her on the waitlist. I immediately reacted and asked the same. I thought maybe I can go. A few minutes later, it was only 25 minutes before the showing, the cashier said that because there were people who didn't show up to get their reserved tickets he will start to call some names which are on the waitlist from now and then. After ten minutes it was my turn. He asked my name, I said mine and I bought the ticket. What a relief. Then I immediately went to the entrance of the room where the movie will be showed. There were already a lot of people waiting in front of the entrance. At 17h14 they let us in. The film started 10 minutes later as scheduled because of the people who had made reservations. I searched for a good seat. I sat next to a man who was aged, his friend had already seen the movie but he hadn't. So it was really exciting for him too. I had already seen it, but I wanted to see it in the theatre. As I said, it's not the same as when you've got it on DVD or on VHS. In the theatre there is another sphere, eg. you can also see the reactions of the audience. There was a lot of laughter. Especially the scene where Joe throws Anne on the ottoman and afterwards carries her to the bed, the scene where Joe spilled on Irving and the scene where Anne hits the secret agent with a guitar. Roman Holiday was awesome. Audrey, Greg and Eddie made this film big. After the movie I saw a part of the interview of Henk Van Der Meyden with Audrey. I heard it was 80' long. In this interview Audrey wears a red dress and they talk about a lot of things such as her movies, her views on life and so on. I didn't have the chance to see the whole interview. Has anyone seen this interview or maybe better, does anyone have it on tape? The same question goes for the documentary about Audrey working for Unicef.
I had a lot of fun these two days. Maybe I'll go again, maybe I won't. I'll go again if I can. But there are still some 2 big weeks. Who knows.
The above was originally posted at a message board. To read the foregoing posts, please click on this link. If you want to get to know more about Audrey, please visit Audrey Hepburn - L'ange des enfants.