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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
I generally am not a fan of Capote, I didn't care for the movie (except for the dress), but reading this book has made me want to both read, and watch; this time from a different perspective. The author gives a detailed account of the details behind, and the making of Breakfast At Tiffany's as well as the impact it had on the women of the early '60s. An easy, fun read. I enjoyed it on my Kindle.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
informative
reflective
fast-paced
För något år sedan satt jag på Logan i Boston, med denna nyinköpta bok i ena handen och ett glas champagne i den andra. Så bör den läsas, inser jag nu.
När 50-tal blev 60-tal. Underrrubriken "the dawn of the modern woman" väckte sociologiska förhoppningar, men det är mer glitterati än genus. Vem kände vem, vem hade på sig vad, vilka lunchade eller jazzklubbade med vilka etc. etc.
Det sirliga språket stör och varför så melodramatisk ton, t.ex. "The cutting room floor is a graveyard." om det alternativa slutet. Överanvändningen av franska låneord har jag förstås ömt överseeende med: crème de la crème, cause célèbre, beau, chic, allure, élan, gamine, fracas, rendezvous, au moment, accoutrements...
Intressant att ta del av castingprocessen och föreställa sig hur (mycket sämre) filmen blivit med de andra föreslagna skådespelarna. Den fruktlösa jakten på en method acting cat. Det blev till slut många katter som fick spela Cat, eftersom katter ofta nöjer sig med att kunna ett trick.
En bokomslagsillustratör fick i uppdrag att designa filmaffischen:
"The art director told me that all they wanted was a single figure, just this girl standing, but with a cat over her shoulder, and that she would be holding her long cigarette holder. They sent me a few movie stills to work with and I said, 'Sure, why not?' [...] He told me they wanted to establish that Breakfast at Tiffany's was a movie about the city. They wanted a couple embracing with the skyline in the background, which they wanted to contrast with the elegance in the main figure of Audrey. But the main thing was the cat. They really wanted that cat in there."
När 50-tal blev 60-tal. Underrrubriken "the dawn of the modern woman" väckte sociologiska förhoppningar, men det är mer glitterati än genus. Vem kände vem, vem hade på sig vad, vilka lunchade eller jazzklubbade med vilka etc. etc.
Det sirliga språket stör och varför så melodramatisk ton, t.ex. "The cutting room floor is a graveyard." om det alternativa slutet. Överanvändningen av franska låneord har jag förstås ömt överseeende med: crème de la crème, cause célèbre, beau, chic, allure, élan, gamine, fracas, rendezvous, au moment, accoutrements...
Intressant att ta del av castingprocessen och föreställa sig hur (mycket sämre) filmen blivit med de andra föreslagna skådespelarna. Den fruktlösa jakten på en method acting cat. Det blev till slut många katter som fick spela Cat, eftersom katter ofta nöjer sig med att kunna ett trick.
En bokomslagsillustratör fick i uppdrag att designa filmaffischen:
"The art director told me that all they wanted was a single figure, just this girl standing, but with a cat over her shoulder, and that she would be holding her long cigarette holder. They sent me a few movie stills to work with and I said, 'Sure, why not?' [...] He told me they wanted to establish that Breakfast at Tiffany's was a movie about the city. They wanted a couple embracing with the skyline in the background, which they wanted to contrast with the elegance in the main figure of Audrey. But the main thing was the cat. They really wanted that cat in there."
slow-paced
I love breakfast at Tiffany's. Audrey Hepburn movies fill my heart with joy and Tiffany's is no exception. This book didn't have to be spectacular for me to enjoy it, but when it started it seemed too fussy. There's a table of contents and a 'cast of characters' that made my eyes roll. The first chapter was filled with so many French phrases thrown in I may have audibly groaned. Thankfully the pretentious beginnings faded away as the book progressed.
The author works hard to weave in all the pieces of this story. It's not just a story of how the novel was adapted to screen, or iconic Audrey Hepburn taking a dangerous role, or Henry Mancini winning an Oscar for best song or Mickey Rooney being cast to play a Japanese man. It's all of that and even more. From the costume designer to the producers to the director. It's interesting that to talk about the film Wasson has to start much further back. He covers, briefly, how all of the many players came to be a part of a film that would change them individually and address the changes in the time. The notes at the end explain the editing and meshing of so many biographies. It's not always seamless, but he covers so many angles of this story I don't see how it could be done in another way.
Reading it made me excited to watch the movie again, but towards the end I realized my watching of the film will always have the shadow of this book over it. The knowledge that Audrey Hepburn was a very reluctant and insecure actor. The fact that no one seemed to like George Peppard, which is sad, since he is the lead. But that's not to say I regret reading it, I do not.
The author works hard to weave in all the pieces of this story. It's not just a story of how the novel was adapted to screen, or iconic Audrey Hepburn taking a dangerous role, or Henry Mancini winning an Oscar for best song or Mickey Rooney being cast to play a Japanese man. It's all of that and even more. From the costume designer to the producers to the director. It's interesting that to talk about the film Wasson has to start much further back. He covers, briefly, how all of the many players came to be a part of a film that would change them individually and address the changes in the time. The notes at the end explain the editing and meshing of so many biographies. It's not always seamless, but he covers so many angles of this story I don't see how it could be done in another way.
Reading it made me excited to watch the movie again, but towards the end I realized my watching of the film will always have the shadow of this book over it. The knowledge that Audrey Hepburn was a very reluctant and insecure actor. The fact that no one seemed to like George Peppard, which is sad, since he is the lead. But that's not to say I regret reading it, I do not.
informative
medium-paced
funny
informative
reflective
fast-paced
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
I really enjoyed this book. It had so much information on the making of both the book and the movie, giving a lot of perspectives on both projects and filling in on what the time period was like and how hard it was to get a movie like that made back then. And of course I am such a big Audrey fan, that just getting to learn more about her life was awesome. Wonderfully written, very interesting.