This was a selection for the May nonfiction book club, and it lost. I’m so disappointed, you guys. But, I will persevere.
Wasson recounts the history behind both Truman Capote’s 1958 novel, and the 1961 film directed by Blake Edwards and starring the inimitable and unconquerable Audrey Hepburn.
Overall, this is a pretty good snapshot of Truman Capote, Audrey Hepburn, the film industry of the late 50s and early 60s, and the shifting beauty standards of the era. All of which amounts to a pretty interesting read that nevertheless feels a little in the thin side.
Wasson does a nice job tying all the threads together, but this story is a brief interlude in the lives of its characters.
The highlight, for me, was the discussion of how feminine beauty and sexuality changed because of this movie and Audrey Hepburn, and the notion that the now ubiquitous little black dress was a daring invention because the only women who typically wore black were widows. Black signified sexual experience, and availability. So it’s adoption was an opening of sexual mores.
Gone were the days of Doris Day’s absolute disinterest in sex and adherence to chaste, colorful clothing.
This is the 1960s, and unmarried women could have sex and without apologizing.
The thing that kept getting me, though, was that Wasson repeatedly describes Audrey Hepburn like she was some vaguely attractive woman barely worth noticing.
And, I know what you’re wondering. Does this book address the unbelievably racist Mr. Yunioshi? Yes. Blake Edwards refused to cut the scenes, David Axelrod didn’t write him that way, Mickey Rooney had no idea people were offended, Truman Capote didn’t like him, and Akira Kurosawa was so angry he could barely speak.
I haven’t read the actual selection for the book club yet (not a huge fan of 80s movies), but I found this to be both engaging and informative.
I’m in the middle of the actual selection but this was my vote and definitely on my TBR. Thanks for the review!
You planning on reading it?
Yes! Hopefully the second half of May. I have, like, 7 library books all due May 15 before I allow myself to bring anything new into the house!
Did Book Club put this on your radar? Because I love when book concierging comes together with a reader finding a book they really enjoy.
It did. I voted for this, then immediately checked it out on Overdrive.
I picked this up from the library yesterday! I’m so excited, and glad to see a positive review from you. It was my pick (WAH) and I’ve never seen the movie, so now I’m going to, and then I’mma read it.
Also . . . you don’t like 80s movies?? I mean, there were A LOT of them, so that’s just wiping out a bunch of great films, man.
Well, okay. It’s far too general a statement to be true. There were a lot of gems that cane out in the 80s, but, overall, I don’t think it was a strong decade for film.
Especially when you compare it to the 70s and 90s that bookend the decade.
So, just for funsies, here is a list of some 80s movies and you should tell me which ones you don’t like because I am very curious:
The Empire Strikes Back
Aliens
The Shining
The Blues Brothers
E.T.
Airplane!
Ghostbusters
Raiders of the Lost Ark
The Breakfast Club
The Princess Bride
Beetlejuice
Blade Runner
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Raging Bull
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
Terminator
Batman
Altered States
Goonies
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial
Full Metal Jacket
Rain Man
Three Men and a Baby
Big
An Officer and a Gentleman
The Big Chill
Heathers
Naked Gun
Tootsie
Broadcast News
Working Girl
Policy Academy
The Color Purple
The Great Muppet Caper
Karate Kid
Dirty Dancing
Gandhi
Sophie’s Choice
Terms of Endearment
Beverly Hills Cop
Fatal Attraction
Body Heat
Back to the Future
Labyrinth
Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure
Die Hard
Coming to America
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
Hmmmm….
I have a movie database where I score every movie I’ve seen on a 10 point scale, just like IMDb’s. I dont have access to that database at the moment (I’m on my phone), but I’ll work from memory.
8+ rating:
Empire Strikes Back
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Ghostbusters
The Shining
The Princess Bride
Blade Runner
Raging Bull
The Terminator
Last Crusade
ET
Back to the Future
Die Hard
7.5+
Aliens
Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
Big
Gandhi
Full Metal Jacket
Rain Man
Color Purple
Sophie’s Choice
7+
Blues Brothers
Beverly Hills Cop
Beetlejuice
Ferris Bueller
Great Muppet Caper
Terms of Endearment
Fatal Attraction
Tootsie
Under 7
Airplane
Breakfast Club
Batman
An Officer and a Gentleman
Naked Gun
Working Girl
Police Academy
Dirty Dancing
Karate Kid
Bill and Teds
Labyrinth
Coming to America
Honey I Shrunk the Kids
Three Men and a Baby
Havent seen/been so long I can’t make a fair assessment:
Goonies
Altered States
Heathers
The Big Chill
Body Heat
Broadcast News
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
And there are, of course, other movies from the decade that I love, like Amadeus, and many others that I enjoyed, like Ran or My Neighbor Totoro.
Hmmm, interesting. Also, TOTORO! I haven’t seen that movie in so long.
ET is on the list twice, just FYI.
Also, there are so many films on your list I haven’t seen – Airplane! (although I will be seeing that soon, thanks to our epic film watching project), Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Altered States, Full Metal Jacket, An Officer and a Gentleman, The Big Chill, Broadcast News, the Great Muppet Caper, Sophie’s Choice, Terms of Endearment, Fatal Attraction and Body Heat
Also, I’m going to piss a lot of people off now by saying that I find The Blues Brothers painfully tedious and I just can’t with Blade Runner. Sooo boring. I’ve seen it several times, including The Director’s Cut, on the big screen and it leaves me entirely cold and unaffected (like so much sci-fi). I see that it’s a very important piece of film making, it just bores the crap out of me.
I don’t really like Blues Brothers, either. I was trying to do a comprehensive list of films most people like from the 80s. I’ve only seen Blade Runner only once and remember not understanding what all the fuss was about, but I’ve been meaning to give it another go as an adult.