The Audrey Hepburn classic Greta Gerwig can’t stand: “I just never liked it”
During the press tour for Barbie, Greta Gerwig showcased the full range of her cinephillia when discussing the references within and inspirations behind the film. From the gorgeous colour palette in Umbrellas of Cherbourg to the trippy surrealism of The Truman Show and the magnificent charisma of The Young Girls of Rochefort, these were all listed as key influences on the colossal feat that is Barbie.
The film makes a point of highlighting key moments within cinema history, with the opening being a direct imitation of the opening scene to 2001: A Space Odyssey, a glorious juxtaposition between the un-seriousness of the story and the grandiose score. However, when discussing the films that have most impacted her, Gerwig also shared one popular film that had a negative impact on her.
Breakfast at Tiffany’s is largely heralded as one of Audrey Hepburn’s greatest films; a romantic drama with a deceivingly dark core, following the life of socialite Holly Golightly who is determined to marry a millionaire, finding her efforts thwarted by a young man who moves into her building and discovers all her secrets. The secret in question is ultimately that both characters are escorts, and as the two of them accidentally fall madly in love, they realise that they cannot hide their true selves from each other, including the parts they are ashamed of.
However, when Gerwig was asked about her thoughts on the film, she revealed, “I just never liked it. It made me uncomfortable. There’s something at its core I just don’t like.” The film is revered by many as one of the best romantic comedies of all time; a staple in the back-catalogue of many people when searching for a good comfort film. However, Gerwig’s dislike and unease towards the film is completely justifiable, with many criticising how poorly it has aged.
The film has an incredibly racist plot line involving Holly’s landlord, an Asian-American man who is painted in an extremely insulting way, with the characters often mocking his accent. As well as the racist comments and jokes, another aspect that is unsettling is the nature of Holly and Paul’s ‘secret’, with it never being acknowledged in an overt way that gives it an uncomfortable tone.
It doesn’t feel self-aware enough to be making a commentary about class and the American dream, and instead feels like a poorly written plot line that was purely added for entertainment value. But without any nuanced acknowledgement of this, it feels somewhat strange and exploitative.
But despite these flaws, many people still love Breakfast at Tiffany’s to this day, but Gerwig is not one of those people. Gerwig has listed films like Singin’ In The Rain, Brief Encounters, Pretty in Pink and Ladybird as some of her all-time favourites, to which you can see a clear reference to in Barbie, which also features large musical numbers and immersive production design, with a bright and poppy colour palette. Gerwig is soon moving on to her next studio project with Netflix – an adaptation of the popular children’s series, Narnia.
