ANGIE'S TOP FILMS: Sabrina isn't reaching for the moon -- the moon's reaching for her!
SABRINA
(1954)
Starring: Audrey Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart, William Holden.
Directed by: Billy Wilder.
Rated: Unrated.
I grew up loving Audrey Hepburn thanks to Mum -- I've always thought her one of the most graceful and beautiful women who ever lived. Sabrina is probably the first romantic film I ever saw (closely followed by Pretty Woman thanks to Mum's undying love for Julia Roberts), and I'm still of the opinion that it's one of the best of the classic Hollywood romantic comedies.
Oh, Audrey, you're so beautiful!
Sabrina (Hepburn) is the young, naive, and romantic daughter of a chauffeur who has been in love with the wealthy David Larrabee (Holden), the son of her father's employer, for most of her life. In an attempt to help her grow up, learn a vocation, and get over her love for David, her father sends her to a Parisian culinary school for two years. But when Sabrina returns, she's as in love with David as always and sophisticated enough to catch his wandering eye, and is now a threat to a high-finance merger David's elder brother Linus (Bogart) has built around David's impending nuptials to a socialite with big business ties. To save the merger, Linus takes it upon himself to woo Sabrina away from David, never expecting to fall head over heels for her in the process...
Sabrina teaches Linus some French -- and he's as good as gone.
Sabrina is a modern-day fairytale, and I think that's why I love it so much. The film has this sort of daydreamy quality to it, opening with Sabrina narrating about the wealth of the Larrabees' and several shots of their impressive country estate, giving the setting the feel of an enchanted castle where there are fabulous parties every night with champagne and a full band playing "Isn't It Romantic?".
It's also a beautiful story about wish-fulfillment. Sabrina is the daughter of a servant who gets to go to Paris for two years and attend a top culinary school. She befriends an elderly Baron, who shows her the ways of society and teaches her some valuable life lessons. She returns to New York a sophisticated, glamorous woman with a fine wardrobe, a new haircut, and a confidence she didn't have before, and immediately bewitches the man she's loved for years. It's a girl's dream come true, and let me tell you, it was certainly this girl's wish come true. Paris! Glamorous clothes! Confidence! Having two amazing, wealthy men in love with you at the same time!
C'est la vie en rose...
Sabrina is one of those films I can watch four times a day and not get tired of it. Bogey is sweet and endearing, his face set into an almost permanent smitten puppy dog expression, the supporting cast of servant characters are adorable and fun, and William Holden does the wild playboy to the hilt. And Audrey is beautiful, especially in the Givenchy dress she wears to the Larrabee party:
Referee-ing tennis players that aren't there.
Audrey Hepburn may not be the greatest actress in history -- I think Katharine is the surperior Hepburn in terms of talent -- but she was beautiful inside and out, and I think that's why I love her so much. Growing up I knew all about Audrey's humanitarian work and difficult childhood in Europe during WWII since Mum was such a fan, and that no doubt has coloured my appreciation of her films. But when you watch her films, you can see that light she had, that energy and sweetness she exuded. She was a wonderful person who did a lot of hard work to make sure the world was a better place when she left it, and I think some of that work was captured on film: watching Audrey's movies makes me giddy and makes me look at the world with rose-colored glasses, and I'm grateful to her for that.
This film in particular simply exudes romance and fantasy. It gives you hope of finding true love in the most unexpected places, and is a sweet November-May love story. But it also touches on some surprisingly serious subjects such as class prejudice/divides and how destructive love can be, sometimes driving people to do terrible things "for sentimental reasons". And it's also a film about discovering what you really want in life. Just as Sabrina grows into a confident woman and decides what she really wants out of life, Linus and David both grow to certain extents thanks to her, and learn there's more to life than work and grabbing each pretty girl that walks by.
Brotherly love can survive loving the same girl, too.
And it's a pretty darn funny movie, too. The patriarch of the Larrabee family is a hoot of a character, always complaining and critical and fixated on olives. Linus has a very dry sense of humor and frequently pokes fun at his footloose brother, who in turn rushes into things so quickly he sometimes falls on his ass (and breaks some glass in the process...). The film's climax features some of the picture's best lines ("All columnists should be beaten to a pulp and converted back into paper!") and a grand confrontation between the brothers. And of course, everything ends happily as the classic Hollywood romances tend to.
If you've never seen this, I really recommend it. It's a fun, sweet, romantic film featuring two of my favourite actors ever (Audrey and Bogey).
On a scale of 1 to 10: Sabrina sails off to Paris with a lovely 9.
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