Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)
Written by Truman Capote (novella) & George Axelrod (screenplay)
Directed by Blake Edwards

“I’m like cat here, a no-name slob. We belong to nobody, and nobody belongs to us. We don’t even belong to each other.” ~ Holly Golightly

My feelings have changed, or perhaps more my perspective, about Holly and the entire story of Breakfast at Tiffany’s, since I first saw it as a preteen girl. Back then I saw Holly as a hero, someone to idolize, and to hope I could grow-up and be just like when I embarked on adulthood, and living on my own. Although I do wish I’d struck out more independently when I originally left home (don’t move out with a boyfriend/girlfriend first thing, boys and girls. No, really), I see a lot more clearly the sadness in Holly, the loneliness, and more than that, the self-destructive behaviors. It is clearer to see as an adult, especially as an adult who has been sad, lonely and who has indulged in self-destructive behaviors in her life.

All that said, I still love Holly, and the movie (albeit, I could do without the miscast of Mickey Rooney as her Asian neighbor – that just makes me shudder.) I do wonder how the movie would play out if it had been made now. Would Paul have been gay, as he is in the novella? Would they have gone off together as friends? Would it be the same without that iconic kiss in the rain?

Kissing in the rain

I can’t imagine a different version. I cannot imagine Holly not being played by Audrey Hepburn either, or Paul being anyone but George Peppard. So, for me, it will always be this version that I love.