Region 1 Paramount (USA)
NTSC, 1.85:1 16x9 enhanced
114 minutes
Audio: DD 5.1 English, DD 2.0 mono English, DD 2.0 mono French, DD 2.0 mono Spanish
Subtitles: Optional English, French, Spanish
Extras: audio commentary by Richard Shepherd; A Golightly Gathering; Henry Mancini: More Than Music; Mr. Yunioshi: An Asian Perspective; The Making of a Classic; It’s So Audrey: A Style Icon; Behind the Gates: The Tour; Brilliance in a Blue Box; Audrey’s Letter to Tiffany’s; stills galleries; theatrical trailer
Released: 13 January 2008
slim double keepcase
Paramount Pictures is re-releasing some of its beloved catalog titles in new Centennial Collection editions to celebrate the studio’s 100th birthday. Breakfast at Tiffany’s carries the Number 5 on its spine.
Of the five titles chosen for Paramount’s new Centennial Collection line of DVDs, four are Audrey Hepburn vehicles. I suppose this is because these movies continue to sell well on DVD, though I’m not banking on Paris When It Sizzles or War and Peace getting this deluxe treatment. As it is, this is the third DVD release of Breakfast at Tiffany’s, which follows a bare-bones first edition and a 45th Anniversary edition that was released not long ago in 2006.
With the exception of my sister, just about every girl I’ve ever met who’s seen it loves Breakfast at Tiffany’s. I don’t get it. I mean, I really don’t get it. Here’s a movie about a gold-digging “socialite” and a kept man who treat everyone like crap, and it’s regarded as a classic romance. I don’t get this movie’s appeal, and I don’t get girls who love this movie.
In Breakfast at Tiffany’s (based on a novella by Truman Capote), Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn) is a young woman who lives by dating rich men who give her money. Paul “Fred” Varjak (George Peppard) is a young writer who is “kept” by a rich woman. Holly and Paul live in the same building, and they go for long walks talking about ideals and dreams while clinging fiercely to leeching off of rich people. One excursion leads to a prison, where Holly meets up with a criminal who acts as her accountant.
The movie is filled with weird digressions. Holly and Paul get arrested as part of a narcotics sting. We learn about Holly’s past and her brother, but these are odd touches that are left dangling rather than explained. There’s a big party at the beginning of the movie that, while capturing the care-free nonsensical spirit of the 1950s/1960s, is too long and rather boring. Also, while calling people “baby” and “darling” may have been common during the 1950s/1960s, it is thoroughly grating in Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
Breakfast at Tiffany’s also has one of the most-racist caricatures ever committed to celluloid. Mickey Rooney plays a Japanese photographer who lives in the same building as Holly and Paul. Rooney looks absolutely atrocious with yellowed fake buck teeth and angry eyebrows. The movie also portrays Asian men as perverts when Holly promises her Japanese neighbor that she’ll pose in special pictures for him. The Japanese character is so iconically racist that Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story featured a clip from this movie as an example of the racism that Bruce Lee had to overcome in America before he became famous.
The title refers to Holly’s habit of going home at six in the morning after a long night of partying. She stops in front of Tiffany and Co., munching on pastries while looking at over-priced eating utensils. This is how the movie opens, and this is indicative of how corrupt and bankrupt this movie is.
The only good thing about this movie is Holly’s nameless cat. The cat is cute, sweet, and endearing.
Why Breakfast at Tiffany’s is so beloved mystifies me. This movie worships materialism, reinforces racist stereotypes, and glorifies prostitution. The ending makes a half-hearted attempt to reject the characters’ lousy attitudes, but there isn’t an ounce of honesty in Holly Golightly’s change-of-heart. Why are so many “love” stories so bad?
Video:
The 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen image looks tired and soft. Edges are often blurry, and there’s a fair amount of “ghosting”/“trailing” when objects are in motion. This is a mediocre video transfer.
Audio:
The audio fares better than the video. This DVD gives you the option of watching the movie with its original mono track in Dolby Digital 2.0 mono English guise, which is in good condition. The actors’ voices are crisp and sharp without being brittle. The music score is surprisingly full and robust.
You can also watch the movie with a DD 5.1 English re-mix as well as DD 2.0 mono French and DD 2.0 mono Spanish dubs.
Optional English, French, and Spanish subtitles as well as optional English closed captions support the audio.
Extras:
--Disc 1--
I didn’t bother listening to the audio commentary by producer Richard Shepherd, but it’s there for those of you who want a new way of experiencing this movie.
--Disc 2--
“A Golightly Gathering” was recorded at an event that re-united many of the actors in the party scene.
“Henry Mancini: More Than Music” salute the composer who undoubtedly played a big part in making Breakfast at Tiffany’s a hit.
“Mr. Yunioshi: An Asian Perspective” interviews various activists about their reaction to Mickey Rooney in yellowface.
“The Making of a Classic” is a featurette about the movie’s production history. Surprisingly, it goes into substantive details and is not entirely gassy.
“It’s So Audrey: A Style Icon” is a featurette about how Audrey Hepburn became famous for her look working with Paramount’s head costume designer Edith Head and with the French clothing designer Hubert de Givenchy.
“Behind the Gates: The Tour” is a brief documentary about the Paramount lot.
“Brilliance in a Blue Box” is a featurette that celebrates the gaudy thing that is Tiffany and Co.
“Audrey’s Letter to Tiffany” is a featurette with a guy reading a letter that Audrey Hepburn wrote as a preface to a book about Tiffany and Co.
Finally, you get three stills galleries and the theatrical trailer.
--Miscellaneous--
The discs are kept in a slim double keepcase. You also get a booklet and a cardboard slipcover.
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