Breakfast at Tiffany’s: Anniversary Edition

 

Picture: B     Sound: B-     Extras: B     Film: B

 

 

Something interesting happened in the world of cinema as the innocent times of the 1950’s ended and the 1960’s began.  It was with 1961’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s that Audrey Hepburn formed the sophisticated part that would lay the foundation for the decade and the role of the female lead.  This would also be a great stepping-stone as Hepburn would later grace the screen in My Fair Lady as well as her incredible role in one of my personal favorites…Charade.  Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a film that is memorable even if you’ve by some chance never seen a single frame from the film.  Most people will recall some aspect from it because they’ve seen the film in either a short segment or perhaps other iconic images. 

 

While I am not necessarily a huge fan per se of the film, I can still appreciate it’s cinematic value and how it’s appreciated over time.  Not only that, but Hepburn is always a delight to see no matter how many times you’ve watched this classic.  It’s also a wise decision for Paramount to go back and revisit this film again for DVD release.  With the standards in the format rising many of the major studios are realizing the need for new transfers.  The original DVD from Paramount was a basic no-frills release with a very problematic 1.78 X 1 transfer and Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono audio.  While the transfer was anamorphic it does not come close to the great improvement on this new anniversary edition, which is also framed at 1.78 X 1.  This new transfer breaths life back into the print with sharper lines, better color, and the biggest improvement is the lack of too much grain.  This new transfer also seems brighter and all around more appealing on many levels.

 

The audio is another great improvement with two options this time around.  The previous DVD only enabled the viewer to hear the film in that 2.0 Mono, but this anniversary edition bumps it up to a 5.0 mix and also keeps a 1.0 mono track for those that are not happy about a boosted mix.  As can be expected the 5.0 mix is far more spacious and does a fairly good job of keeping things open and fresh for a film that was never meant to be in surround sound.  The audio seems free from distortion and the music (which has become as classic as the film itself thanks to the brilliant Henri Mancini) never feels compressed or as suffocated as it does in the 2.0 or 1.0 form. 

 

Extras are also a great reason to want to pickup this title again, because this time around we get a fantastic and informative commentary track by the films producer Richard Shepherd as well as a few other items worth viewing.  There is a ‘making of’ feature that is not nearly as in-depth as others out there, but still decent as well as a few other featurettes that are largely focused on Audrey Hepburn and her creation of a classic character.  The theatrical trailer is also included and gives a great glimpse of how poor the film looks in a non-restored form. 

 

All in all this is a film that sells itself.  It’s packaged in a bright pink cardboard fit case over the typical plastic DVD case, which adds to the frills, plus all the extras and a fantastic restoration from the previous DVD give the consumer all the reason in the world to want to revisit Breakfast at Tiffany’s once again.

 

 

-   Nate Goss