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Henry Mancini’s “Moon River” plays mesmerizingly in the background as Audrey Hepburn appears on screen. She is wearing her classic black dress and eating a danish while staring at Tiffany’s department store. Although she has on a pair of large black sunglasses, shadowing her eyes, you can still see the emotion hidden under them as she stares hopelessley at the diamond studded necklace she will never be able to afford.
“Breakfast at Tiffany’s” is a movie about a lonely girl — a role Audrey Hepburn plays with ease. Her character, Holly Golightly, holds a spontaneous and bright personality throughout the film, puffing away each regret on her long cigarette, as more of her is unveiled.
In “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” Hepburn meets a young man in the apartment next door, Paul Varjak, played by George Peppard, and unexpectedly falls for him. It soon becomes apparent he is not the only man in her life, as she moves quickly from man to man, fully unable to commit to anyone.
When my ears first heard the distressing score, and when my eyes first caught view of the permanent heartbreaking look on Holly’s face, my heart immediately followed her throughout the film.
I was 17 years old and I didn’t believe anything anyone told me. A boy — one of many — had broken my heart and I thought the world had stopped turning. I was staying home “sick,” lounging around in my sheep pajamas and smudged makeup, when I turned on the Turner Classic Movies channel and”Breakfast at Tiffany’s” was on. I couldn’t take my eyes away from it because I saw every bit of myself in Hepburn’s character.
Even with every bit of comic relief that was present, all I could see was how sad this girl’s life really was. Holly poured all of her love into only one thing, Tiffany and Co., which left her with no love to give to anyone, not even herself. Then, as Paul insists on staying in her life, she tries constantly to push him away. Paul doesn’t run away, though.
She explains to him that her cat has no name because she feels like no one belongs to anyone, and she wears the same black dress whenever she goes out to make the deception that she is wealthy. She isn’t, though, and as the ending nears, we discover that she isn’t even Holly Golightly. It is the common tale of false identity and lack of trust. She doesn’t know who she is.
As I watched her slowly push away her true love Paul, calling herself a “wild thing” that no one can catch, I realized what everyone was trying to tell me. To live in a cage by yourself, to push away boy after boy just because you are afraid to trust, is not the way one should live. I realized that if I were to continue going through life crying on the kitchen floor because I couldn’t trust a boy, I would end up just like Holly; afraid, lonely, nameless and in love with a jewelry store.
As a female, I hear so many stories just like Holly’s and mine. Girls constantly push away the ones who get too close to their heart because they are afraid to get too attached and in the end get hurt. Instead, they choose to live their lives as independent women who will go through life boy to boy, never knowing why they aren’t happy.
“Breakfast at Tiffany’s” is a marvelous film that every young girl should watch. It portrays a life without trust will result in a life without love.
Paul Varjak: I love you.
Holly Golightly: So what.
Paul Varjak: So what? So plenty! I love you, you belong to me!
Holly Golightly: No. People don’t belong to people.
Paul Varjak: Of course they do!
Holly Golightly: I’ll never let anybody put me in a cage.
Paul Varjak: I don’t want to put you in a cage, I want to love you!
