Saturday 10 November 2007

Audrey Hepburn

She was a complete and utter fashion icon and turned the Tiffany's store into the famous establishment it is now. Few fashion bodies would argue about Audrey Hepburn's place in the history of fashion. Her films, Roman Holiday, Funny Face, Sabrina and the wonderful, Breakfast at Tiffany's are renowned for their wardrobes as well as the storyline. The Movie Icon series have released a photo book that is a visual biography of Hepburn, titled simply A.Hepburn, it captures her career from her teenage years to maturity. The book is A5 sized and is divided into five sections; Audrey Hepburn:Incandescent, Visual Filmography, Chronology, Filmography and Bibliography. Our first introduction of the book is a wonderful image of Audrey looking doe eyed and vulnerable on the cover of the book. Her hair is cut into the elfin cut that she made chic and she is wearing a touch of eyeliner and red lipstick. Open the book and we have a emphatic picture of Audrey as Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's lying back in a chair saluting you in THAT black dress.

The first section, Audrey Hepburn:Incandescent consists of an introduction written by screenwriter and critic, F. X. Feeney that has been translated into different languages. The next section is Visual Photography which consists of numerous stills of the petite actress in her films and magazine covers. Visual Photography is sectioned into three sub sections; Girl has pictures of her from her early acting days in films like Laughter in Paradise, Portrait, Young Wives Tale, The Lavender Hill, The Secret People, Gigi and from the delectable Roman Holiday. Growing Pains has more images of Hepburn from films such as Sabrina, War and Peace, Love in the Afternoon and Funny Face, transformation has a selection of images from films like Green Mansions, The Nun's Story, The Unforgiven, The Children's Hour, Charade, Paris When it Sizzles, My Fair Lady and of course Breakfast from Tiffany's. Woman features Hepburn ripe in her 30s in films such as How to Steal a Million, Two for the Road and the thriller, Wait till Dark. There are also footage of her in her later years in the last film she ever made, Always.

This poetic visual section is followed by a chronology of her life on a personal and professional life. There is also a wonderful filmography of her body of work which has the artwork from movie adverts and this is followed by a short bibliography. The book ends rather similar to the way it started with a double page spread of Hepburn as Holly Golightly but this time with her eyes closed. A rather fitting ending I might say.

I am a complete Hepburn fan and have been ever since I saw her sashaying down Fifth Avenue, in Breakfast at Tiffany's wearing those over sized sunglasses and stopping to peer into the windows of Tiffany's. How I love that film, I was enthralled when I saw it for the first time as a 19 year old and I drool when I hear the song, Moon River. If you are Hepburn fan like I am then you really need to get this book.

Audrey is part of The Movie Icon series and is out now!

3 cool comments:

Anonymous said...

I think 'How to Steal a Million' might be my favorite. Cool costumes and such charming characters.

Anonymous said...

'Breakfast at Tiffany's' is a classic. Ms Hepburn just pulled it off with that black number. And honestly speaking, who can argue with 'Moon River'?

Jamal Bonner said...

This is a beautiful book. I very much enjoyed some of the back stories with these movies. I was flipping through as I watched "Love In The Afternoon" picturing the part of Frank Flannagan being played by Cary Grant. That might have been fun.