Charade
It must have been at least two years since I have made a list of Audrey Hepburn films I want to see, and “Charade” has always been the one that I have only heard positive things about. Sure, “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” is more popular and more well-known, but it always seemed to me that “Charade” must be the crème de la crème of Audrey Hepburn’s films.
I was wrong. Perhaps it’s Audrey Hepburn’s role, perhaps it’s her underdeveloped relationship with Cary Grant, while I watched the film, something felt missing. Audrey Hepburn felt much less sparkling in this film, much less charming (but a little more stupid) and the story felt much less interesting than usual, because the shocking revelations and turn of events came off as little plot holes. (Which were solved at the end, sometimes at least.) Dear Ms. Hepburn, when you are not sure if a certain person wants you dead or not, you should not make out with that person.
Nevertheless, the film delivered two hours full of enjoyment to me. Even though this is clearly not a Wilder’s work, I had to laugh or at least smile quite a lot of times in this film. Especially the dialogue at the end was so perfectly charming – at this point, who cares about clichés anymore? Despite the little mistakes the film had for me, it was still very suspenseful, and I must say that I enjoyed Mr. Joshua’s changes of name a whole lot. Did you know that I have always wanted to change my name? I have always wanted to see how it is to suddenly go somewhere, change your name, start a new life for awhile and then go back at some point. Internet nicknames are nothing against the kick you can experience when somebody looks deeply into your eyes and calls you lovingly by your fake name. Or so I imagine it to be. Heh.
I can see how “Charade” can be other people’s favorite Audrey Hepburn film – it surely is one of the funniest and most suspenseful or her films. However, perhaps my bond to her other films (“Roman Holiday”, “Sabrina”, “Wait until Dark”) is already too strong to leave the top places in my ranking to “Charade” which had a few weaknesses for me. Finally, if somebody wanted me to recommend an Audrey Hepburn film to them, I would probably say “Roman Holiday” or “Wait until Dark” first, and then “Charade”.
My ranking, however, looks like this now:
Finally, my current ranking looks like this:
1. Wait until dark
2. Roman Holiday
3. Sabrina
4. Love in the Afternoon
5. Breakfast at Tiffany’s
6. Charade
7. War and Peace
8. Two for the Road
9. My Fair Lady
And of course there is more to come. I want to see “The Children’s Hour” someday, and “Funny Face”. I am not so sure about “The Nun’s Story”, “Nous irons à Monte Carlo” (just to see her speak French), “How to steal a million?” and “Paris when it sizzles”.