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209 reviews for:
Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and the Dawn of the Modern Woman
Sam Wasson
3.64 AVERAGE
209 reviews for:
Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and the Dawn of the Modern Woman
Sam Wasson
3.64 AVERAGE
Interesting perspective on Audrey Hepburn, Truman Capote, and the cast of Breakfast at Tiffany's.
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
I wasn't really that interested in the parts about making the movie. I love Truman Capote though so I couldn't resist getting this for the Kindle. It doesn't have that much information about Truman Capote, but tidbits here and there. I just skimmed the parts about making the movie itself. It was interesting to hear more about what life was like for women at that time and how they were portrayed in the movies and seeing that evolve some. It would be fine with me if all clothes were black, and I didn't realize this movie is what made women start wearing black outside of grieving it sounds like.
I am completely in love with Audrey Hepburn, and have been since I first saw Sabrina in Sophmore year of High School. As this much of a fan, my opinion may be skewed a bit, but I thought this was a good, well-rounded look at the movie and its place in the feminism of the time, as well as the changes it brought to film.
This book was interesting, although I'd say the title goes a bit far. Not sure that Breakfast at Tiffany's was really the "dawn of the modern woman" but more an adjustment of the review board for films to match where society was at the time. (All of which I learned from the book itself...)
I really wanted this book to be a bit more than it was. Yes, the author is in love with Audrey (as are so many of us) and interested in the real cultural impact that she had, but that's about all that really goes deeper than gossip about a film.
Sadly he really misses the chance to address the outright racism of the film or the longer lasting effects of it, choosing instead to point it out and leave.
Still, for fans of Audrey and filmmaking it's a fun fast read.
Sadly he really misses the chance to address the outright racism of the film or the longer lasting effects of it, choosing instead to point it out and leave.
Still, for fans of Audrey and filmmaking it's a fun fast read.
Entertaining background on the movie and its star. Enjoyable light reading.
informative
fast-paced
stra interessante e scritto bene! ovviamente perché sto studiando queste cose, non penso lo avrei letto per mio piacere personale, però piaciuto
I would say this book is for true fans of Breakfast at Tiffany's, or more likely, those who are interested in the history of movie making. Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M. is filled with names and places and little, almost gossipy, stories. All of which is not really my thing, I am not the target audience for this book. But I can see where the target audience could give it a higher rating. It is well written and flows, a little bit, like a novel. For those who are interested in the subject material, this would most likely be very enjoyable to read.
To really get this one, I'd suggest rereading Breakfast at Tiffany's and watching the movie again.
It's readable, but as someone who is a huge film buff and who has read extensively on the history of filmmaking, I took issue with some of Wasson's pronouncements. Wasson contends that stars are creations of the studios. While certainly stars were shaped and polished by the studios (and today by their various handlers), to imply that anyone could just create an Audrey Hepburn or a Marilyn Monroe is absurd. That's a minor nit, but it colored how I read the rest of the book.
He also despises Edith Head which I found mystifying. Her failure to acknowledge Givenchy when she won the Oscar for Sabrina is well known and was deplorable. Her career was also on a marked downswing as Hepburn's was rising, but her contributions to film are substantial--certainly more substantial as a whole than someone like Axelrod or even arguably Blake Edwards.
More troubling to me was the fairly shallow take on women in the Fifties. Pop social history has its place, but it has its definite limitations and should not be taken as gospel.
Still, the structure of this book is excellent. To follow all the aspects a film from conception to birth is not an easy thing and Wasson manages to present it in a clear and compelling manner.
It's readable, but as someone who is a huge film buff and who has read extensively on the history of filmmaking, I took issue with some of Wasson's pronouncements. Wasson contends that stars are creations of the studios. While certainly stars were shaped and polished by the studios (and today by their various handlers), to imply that anyone could just create an Audrey Hepburn or a Marilyn Monroe is absurd. That's a minor nit, but it colored how I read the rest of the book.
He also despises Edith Head which I found mystifying. Her failure to acknowledge Givenchy when she won the Oscar for Sabrina is well known and was deplorable. Her career was also on a marked downswing as Hepburn's was rising, but her contributions to film are substantial--certainly more substantial as a whole than someone like Axelrod or even arguably Blake Edwards.
More troubling to me was the fairly shallow take on women in the Fifties. Pop social history has its place, but it has its definite limitations and should not be taken as gospel.
Still, the structure of this book is excellent. To follow all the aspects a film from conception to birth is not an easy thing and Wasson manages to present it in a clear and compelling manner.