Audrey Hepburn's male partners are a good case study for Hollywood
sexism and ageism. In the 1950s and 1960s, she was often paired with
older men, some old enough to be her father (Bogart, Cooper, Astaire, Fonda and
Cary Grant - although he was in a category of his own). While we are
expected that this bright, gorgeous creature could fall in love with
older men;
older women often had to suffer
if they dared wishing to be interested in virile young men. This is one of the more extreme cases in this series - at some stage
Astaire actually says that he doesn't care for her intellect. In the
same vein, there is a scene where domestic violence turns rebellious
women into devoted ones (this is set in France, so it could be aimed at
French women). In fact, faced with Astaire's irrestitible charm, she
abandons all intellectual preocupations for love.
Stanley Donen directed "Funny Face", which tells the story of a pretty young girl with
intellectual ambitions that accepts a job as a modelling job in Paris
so she can meet her favourite philosopher. Recycling Gershwin songs, it
really intended to cash on Audrey Hepburn's stardom.
The
satire has dated badly (the intellectual circles, the philosopher
more interested in more material pursuits), and the romantic bits are
over the top (the swans and the barge are really good examples). Hepburn
is beautifully photographed (and the new restoration looks
impeccable) and murders a few Gershwin songs (particularly "How long has
this been going on?") but she has nothing else to do other than showing
pretty clothes - although she does it well, creating an iconic image in
the Louvre sequence. As for
Astaire, all he does is repeat all he had spent the previous two and
half decades doing. And while it's fun to see Paris in the 1950s (and
how little the city centre has
changed) and Givenchy and Edith Head get to show off their talent as
designers, I fear this one is for hardcore Audrey fans only.
The
sole redeeming feture of the film is Kay Thompson who gets the best
number ("Think Pink!") and lightens up the others she appears. Oh, and
Audrey's photographs within the film are very good indeed.
