Audrey Hepburn in Amsterdam - Part 3

Last Saturday, the 4th, I watched the documentary about Audrey "AH - Ein Star auf der Suche nach sich selbst" or “AH – Une star en quête d'elle-même”. It was French spoken and the interviews were dubbed, so I had to listen very attentively to understand what was said. After watching it I came to the conclusion that I have to brush up my knowledge of French. It’s poor. The reportage was a career overview and a little bit about her work for Unicef. It is 52' long. They showed the villa of the van Heemstra’s in Doorn. They told us how Audrey grew up and how she was discovered. Throughout the documentary they showed scenes from “Nederlands in Zeven Lessen”, “Roman Holiday”, ”Sabrina”, ”War and Peace”, “Funny Face”, “Love in the Afternoon”, ”The Nun’s Story”, “The Unforgiven”, “The Children’s Hour”, “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”, “Charade”, “My Fair Lady”, “How to Steal a Million”, “Two for the Road”, “Wait until Dark” and “Robin and Marian”. During the reportage there were interviews with Harry Belafonte, Sean Ferrer, Hubert de Givenchy, Connie Wald and Robert Wolders. They talked about what kind of person Audrey was and about her work. A photo of Sean with his brother Luca was shown. Sean really looks like his father Mel. Audrey’s best friend said that Audrey’s diction was perfect. Hubert told the story about his first encounter with Audrey. He was expecting Katherine Hepburn, but he got Audrey. First he was surprised and disappointed, but then he was very happy with her. Robert said that her last Christmas was the best Christmas she had ever had, because the whole family was together in Switzerland which was very rare. There were some scenes from the house in Tolochenaz. There were also some scenes from her work for Unicef, for example the scene where she’s trying to help a child eating his meal. There was also a picture shown of Audrey with Connie Wald, Billy Wilder and his wife Audrey. It was a very beautiful picture. The documentary ended with several Audrey close-ups from several movies with "Moonriver" on the background. I have to watch the reportage more than once to tell you more and more detailed. If I have got time, I will do that then.
Thereafter, I watched Charade. This film was dubbed too. But I could understand most of it. It was a very exciting and splendid movie, with a great cast. Next to Audrey you had Cary Grant, Walter Matthau and James Coburn. The first scene was well found. The scene with the gun pointed at Reggie which turned out to be a water gun. A funny scene was the scene in the nightclub where Reggie and Peter had to pass on an orange, or the scene where Reggie is following Peter and when Peter turns back, she has to sit down on a chair opposite a man who keeps calling her “Freulein” when she leaves him. She eventually gets rid of this man by threatening him that she will call the police. Another comic scene is the scene in the hotel room, where Reggie is screaming and Alex hurries to help her, but it turns out to be false alarm. She just wants him in her room. I also didn’t know who the murderer was. I guessed it wrong the whole time. After the third murder, I knew who the killer was, but I hesitated once more as Tex had written the word “Dyle” on the carpet. Next day I watched the original version and that made the movie better. I was able to follow the movie easier, which made it more exciting.
Last week Tuesday, the 31st, I called the Filmmuseum to make reservations for “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” for my parents and my brother and me. He, who answered the phone, said there still were tickets. So last Tuesday, the 7th, we went to the Filmmuseum by train and by tram. When we arrived at 18h19, we bought the tickets and waited until we could go to our seats in the theatre. My mum had to wait for my dad, because he came from his work. The movie began at 18h53, almost 10 minutes too late, but that didn’t matter. It was worth it to wait. The movie was awesome. It was a great story, but also a sad one. There was excellent acting by Audrey and George Peppard. Mickey Rooney was great too. The first scene is when Holly is standing in front of Tiffany’s and having breakfast. Add to this scene some great Henry Mancini music and you’ve got an awesome scene. She looks astounding in this scene. When she ringed at the door of her apartment and mr. Yunioshi opened the door, I thought she went to him to make some pictures, but she didn’t. It turns out she lives there. A few hours later she meets Paul who lives one floor above her. Then you’ve got the scene in which Holly is making herself ready, she’s brushing her teeth and putting her clothes on, searching for her shoes. Holly really becomes Audrey. She could be anybody but she transforms to Audrey. A phoney? She’s a real phoney. A funny scene is the scene at the party where the hat of a woman is on fire because of Holly’s long cigarette pipe. Paul tries to do something about it, but it isn’t needed anymore since someone spills his glass of wine on the woman’s hat and that extinguishes the fire. Holly only wants to marry a very rich man. That’s all she’s thinking of. She lives in her own world, she is a dreamer. Paul on the other hand is a realist. He wants to make money by writing books. Holly was very mean a few times, for example when she says something to Paul about his way of making a living. Moreover, she calls herself a wild thing, a free spirit and she doesn’t want to be put in a cage. Paul says to her that she is terrified about it. And he adds to it that she’s already in that cage, and that she built it herself. Paul really cares about Holly; he is in love with her. Did I mention that I really like "Moon River"? I love the melody and the lyrics. Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer have written one of the most beautiful songs there exists. There is only one questionmark, the scene in which she plays and sings “Moon River”, my father said she is faking it and she doesn’t really play. I’m not sure. Can anyone confirm this or was my father wrong?
“Breakfast at Tiffany’s” was the last film I watched at the big screen until now. I regret it that the retrospective of Audrey is over now. However I had a wonderful time. I was able to go to 6 movies of her and to visit the exposition once (or several times if you include visiting it numerous times the same day). Furthermore, I could watch 2 long documentaries at the Filmmuseum and I was even able to see the pink dress she wore in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and the dark blue suit she wore in “Charade”. I would never replace these 6 unforgettable days for anything else.
The above was originally posted at a messageboard. To read the previous posts, please click on this link. If you want to get to know more about Audrey, please visit Audrey Hepburn - L'ange des enfants.