Holly not-so-Golightly

I've had this little list of cinematic classics in my head for quite some time and I told myself that I would make it my personal mission to watch them all - if only for the sake of expanding my almost encyclopedic knowledge of the film world. Some of these movies-to-see were It's A Wonderful Life, Casablanca and either movie with Brigitte Bardot, evidently, I settled for La Vérité. Other movies I must see soon are: Gone With The Wind, Some Like It Hot, An Affair To Remember and The Way We Were. 

I found It's A Wonderful Life to be an incredibly beautiful story of individualism and the sacrifice of one's personal desires for the needs of others. George Bailey perpetually places others before him, not believing in the good deeds that he therefore commits and is unable to see how wonderful life can be. The tale of 'not knowing what you've got, 'till it's gone' is beginning to sound like a broken record - to some of us -, yet you cannot help fall in love with the black-and-white esthetic and the genuine Christmas-spirit feel of this movie.

Casablanca was alright, although I don't know where people got the idea that Humphrey Bogart could act. If all you had to do was steady your drinking hand, look like your trying to solve the world's most difficult equation and speak in a single monotonous voice, then okay, you've got yourself an actor - apparently. Special praise goes out to Ingrid Bergman however, as her almost-porcelain features and tender character was the main raison to continue watching the movie.

And lastly, La Vérité I enjoyed immensly as well. The sensuous Bardot who could hide a small animal in one of her hairdos, knows how to spin a guy round and round her finger until he's completely done for. If ever you should come across it, don't hesitate and see it. If only to gaze at that massive pile of hair, the piercing stare and lips that could squeeze diamonds out of solid rock.

But today's topic is all about a certain quirky, fast-talking, unpredictable, cat-loving and diamond-praising girl: a miss Holly Golightly. For those of you who haven't heard this name before, perhaps dropping another one might get you back on track of Memory Lane: Breakfast At Tiffany's? And if that still doesn't do it for you, then I honestly don't see the point in you reading onwards.

Breakfast At Tiffany's, to me, is all about one's search for identity and happiness. It's a story about a girl who doesn't seem to trust herself and gets by solely based on her good looks and her quick-whipped personality. Set in New York, this vast metropolis is perfect to accomodate Holly's chaotic and fast-paced lifestyle.

The movie starts with her famous stroll across Manhattan, staring through the store windows. The streets of the City That Never Sleeps have yet to come alive in their nigh-permanent gridlock state, but for now, they're beautifully desolate. Entering her apartment, she rings the landlord to let her in because she continuously forgets or looses her keys. Clearly, organized life is completely wasted on her. Her apartment is as ecclectic as her walk of life - an upside down box for a coffee table and a half cut-out bathtub for a couch -, even her cat, which remains nameless - since she feels she has no claim on it -, has adopted Holly's playful and slightly crazy attitude - mind the part where the animal simply clings onto the doors of the closet, quite the vertical delight!

There's something about Audrey Hepburn and the way she portrays Holly that keeps you glued to the screen. Even though at times all you want to do is shake her and scream at her "Why can't you see what's right in front of you!" or my personal favourite: "Damnit woman, marry the man already!", there is no denying the massive heap of charisma that comes with every move she does and every sentence she utters. Her mannerisms, from the way she's holding her foot-long cigaret, to the way she strolls in and out her apartment, up the firescape to greet her upstairs neighbour Paul, with the much-quoted sentence "Fred, darling". As to why she's referring to Paul as Fred and why at some point Holly is called Lula Mae, that's what you'll have to find out when you see it for yourself. And see it you must, because Holly Golightly deserves your attention even if it is just to hear her say her immortal "Darling" line or watch her try and steal something from a 99ct store.

I used to think that calling certain old movies 'classics' was just another marketing strategy to sell movies or some word that was casually being thrown around, but for some cases, I get why they would slap the label 'classic' on the cover. Holly Golightly is not someone you go over lightly, it's something you watch and savour. Like a fine wine, age has done nothing to it, but make it better. You'll see. Just you wait, darling!