Live-blogging Breakfast at Tiffany's

I said I think I remember the film

And I recall I think we both kind of liked it

And I said hey, that's one thing we got.

I've never seen this movie, even though I loved that song about it back in middle school. So tonight I snuggled up with pajama pants  and Netflix to experience a permanent fixture of American pop culture. There was no one around to hear my snide comments, so you get to read them. 

10:00 Wait. Truman Capote wrote the novel? Interesting.
Where is Tiffany's anyway? I better visit next time I'm in New York.
10: 04 That column dress, updo, and jewelry are so iconic, but it's a very non-curvy silhouette. Why is this the first thing that comes to mind for elegant femininity?
10:07 Audrey looks good in anything, even a baggy tuxedo shirt. The way her hair is piled up on her head reminds me of my VSC roommate K. 
10:11 Her couch is a claw-foot bathtub cut in half with purple cushion and pink pillows.I want to try that in my next apartment.
10:23 Perfume in the mail slot. Genius. She must never get utility bills.
10:26 Sugar-mama decorator is an aspiring Dorothy Draper, what with all that damask and rococo statuary.
10:30 So our protagonists are two lost souls, trying to make their way in the urban jungle of New York.
10:32 A lesser actress would not be able to pull of this corny monologue about raising horses in Mexico with her brother Fred.
10:34 Ah, the mandatory baguette sticking out of every movie grocery bag.
10:35 Dorothy Draper wannabe (let's caller her DDW) has a crazy awesome apartment with a gloriously tacky painted Greek frieze.

10:39 This discussion of phoniness brought to you by JD Salinger?
10:43 Brazilian party guest wants to learn about Stuff White People Like
10:46 How did anyone think those fake teeth on Mickey Rooney were a good idea?
10:49 There's something Gatsby-esque about a cocktail party left by its host as the cops arrive.
10:53 The Moon River balcony scene reminds me of Kate and Leopold when they hear that song playing nearby.
11:00 This secret redneck husband business appeared sooner than I expected. What will happen with the rest of the film?
11:09 Drunk woman dressed in white, locked out of her apartment after running into an ex lover. This scene was imitated in The Wedding Planner.
11:12 Holly's tote bag has a painting of the Annunciation printed on it. I wonder if she bought it at the Met?


11:19 Kate and Leopold also mimicked this "do fun things in New York" montage.
11:22 Cracker Jack prizes give one "a sense of solidarity really, of continuity with the past." Too bad they don't give out whole rings any more.
11:23 "Is that really where they have the book itself? Live?" Libraries - not half as nice as Tiffany's.
11:26 Modern romantic comedies take note - this montage actually helps us learn about the characters. Awww, when they are happy they both have their keys.

11:32 "I can help her, and it's a nice feeling for a change." Just like Sebastian Flyte in Africa in the middle of Brideshead, I love it.
DDW has a great amethyst ring, but she's evil.That's right, Mrs. Robinson, he's leaving all the suits behind.
11:41 That shot of the feather-strewn room is brilliant. There are a surprising number of blackouts in this film.
11:44 "I'm fat as a pig." Shut up this minute young lady. Also, your Victorian rosewood furniture signaling your new domesticity is ridic.
11:47 Oh Audrey, the pigtails are too cute. Someday if I have 9 children I'll take them to New York too.
11:55 We've seen Holly getting dressed up/dressed down several times - there's definitely symbolism in that, the way she's putting on a glamorous front to the world.
11:59 "You call yourself a free spirit, a "wild thing," and you're terrified somebody's gonna stick you in a cage. Well baby, you're already in that cage. You built it yourself." Somebody should have told Carrie Bradshaw that right off and spared us 6 TV seasons and two horrible movies worth of drama.

Hooray, happy ending, I think I kinda liked it. I kept drawing parallels to a million other films - The Graduate, The Apartment, etc. Audrey Hepburn is indeed charming and beautiful in every scene, but the story is much heavier than just jewels and croissants.
Still, I have the sudden urge to go necklace shopping....