I enjoyed this movie, I recently saw it for the first time.  It made a startling commentary on the American Dream, and what it means to form the Identity of self.  I rank it as impactful of a movie as “Death of a Salesmen”.

In case you are unfamiliar with the movie, the movie is centered around Audrey Hepburn. she plays a rambunctious party girl who makes her living by playing on the sentiments of would-be playboys.  She is a copious flirt, who has no value in men other than what they can provide for her as far as lifestyle and status.  She is an interesting character in so much as she doesn’t place much value in her own feelings or emotions.  There is one point in the movie, where she chooses to be with a wealthy politician as opposed to the man she has fallen in love with, simply for the superficial life-style, that she doesn’t so much value.  She came from nothing, in fact, her first marriage was the product of a man who rescued her from stealing scraps in his field.  And she ran away from this marriage to seek bigger and better things in the world.  in fact, that is a repeating theme in the movie, Audrey’s character is constantly running from things.

She met her first husband by running away from her destitute life.  She ran away from this husband to pursue a lofty social status.  She ran away from this socialite life to seek a life with a foreign politician.Her love interest in the movie is a writer by the name of Paul Varjak,  She fell in love with him ran away from this because she wanted something better.  Eventually, her male co-star caught up to her and confronted her about all of this running.  And this is where I found so much value in the movie.  The movie deals much with the ideas of identity, social status, morality, self-sustainability, love and fulfillment.  When the co-star, who she fell in love with, finally catches up with her, she is forced to confront all of these issues.  She is forced to decide what she really places value in and what she will choose to cherish in life.

Is status really important, or is it all a facade in the long run?

Who exactly is she?

She has changed her name on multiple occasions because she was never satisfied with who she was to begin with.  She was in constant search of someone to be, when in actuality all she needed to do was discover who she was and value and be that.  She had to reconcile the fact that a man can have a greater value than just a provider of “things”.  A man can be a purveyor of love and companionship, something beyond the superficial role of provider that society has deemed him.  She had to reconcile this truth and accept it, only then could she understand what love is and accept the fact that she deserves this type of healthy love.

In one scene, she symbolically comes to terms with all of these truths.

Aside from the commentary this film provides on social aspects of society, it is well written and has a great comedic aspect to it.  I would recommend this movie to anyone on any level of viewership.  Like poetry, most art is subjective and the viewer of the art can derive any meaning they want from the art.  It just takes and a willing mind and shaping of perspective.