Sabrina and Sabrina

Alright, this time I'm on here for real, to post with regularity and talk/mutter/rant/complain and occasionally praise the world I'm in. I've been down and out, first without a use for this blog and no need to talk, and then too low to want to. But now I'm feeling stronger and am read to come out of my shell a bit.

This is going to be my new start. Take it as a late birthday resolution, or an early New Year's one.

And so it's Thanksgiving, and my mother and I watched Sabrina. The original with Audrey Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart (in a role wonderfully out of character for him), and William Holden. Earlier this autumn, we saw the remake with Julia Ormond and Harrison Ford. Both were what amount to fairytales, and now I'm having a fine time comparing them.

The focus in the remake was really more on Linus Larraby (who was excellently developed), and it also had more laughs. It also did a better job with the duckling to swan plot device, as Audrey Hepburn looked stunning right from the beginning, unlike Julia.

On the other hand... Julia's character had glasses... which she ditched. That's a real pet peeve of mine. Glasses don't have to be unattractive, you know...

In favor of the original, it was far more romantic, perhaps because it wasn't played for laughs. It also had gorgeous black-and-white cinematography, and a hard to pinpoint quality of understatement. Perhaps I did enjoy the original more, but I appreciate them both on their own terms.

Both films had perfect casting, and one of my favorite heroines of all time. Sabrina Fairchild is in every way an admirable person. She goes to Paris and finds not just poise and style, but herself and her inner strength. My favorite scene in both films is the confrontation with Linus. She reacts as a perfect lady, and if I could find half that grace in my own soul, I would be happy for all my days.

This set of films also made me a fan of the song La Vie En Rose. My favorite Edith Piaf song is always going to be La Foule, but Rose is also beautiful.

Sabrina (1954) *****
Sabrina (1995) ****1/2

Combining this with My Fair Lady, I now count Audrey Hepburn on my list of favorite actresses of all time. I'll keep an eye out for more of her movies. Bogart I've been a fan of for years, and I like Ormond a great deal. I've never seen Indiana Jones, so other than Sabrina '95 and Star Wars, I'm drawing a blank on Ford. (Oh! But he was in an episode of Kung Fu!)