Why I Love Old Films

Yes, the acting style is outdated and the kissing is stiff and far too dramatic, but when it comes to class, old films certainly know how to deliver. The dance between the lighting and the grayscale images is choreographed beautifully; the gorgeous close ups of those FACES that lit up the silver screen suck me right in; the decadent wardrobes make me gasp at each entrance of the characters; the little throwaway lines that are absolutely, subtly brilliant delight me to the core.

When I'm watching an old film I feel like I'm home. Like I'm wrapped in a fleece blanket, drinking hot cocoa with extra marshmallows late at night during a thunderstorm. They're just so beautiful.

Old films offer an escape from reality--one that is more complete than contemporary films; in a contemporary film (even one set in a different time period) the picture quality, the color correction, and the editing styles are constant reminders of today's technology, trapping the audience in the present. Old films allow us to time travel. The grainy picture, the simple shots, the rough lighting--it's all a ticket to the past. We get to experience not only the story in the film, but the time in which it was released.

This week after watching a number of old Audrey Hepburn films (Breakfast at Tiffany's, Roman Holiday, and Sabrina), I am absolutely clamoring to invite a little more class into my life. I want to BE Audrey Hepburn . . . or rather, I want to be ME but . . . Audrey Hepburn-er. ;) (If that wasn't a classy statement, I don't know what is. Ha. Ha. Ha.)

I guess what I'm saying is, here's my "To Do" list:

1. Go to NYC, wear silk gloves, and eat a pastry in front of Tiffany's.
2. Learn "Moon River" on the guitar and sing it while sitting on a window ledge.
3. Spend a day strictly doing things I've never done before.
4. Have the time of my life in Rome.
5. Dance with a barber.
6. Fall in love with Gregory Peck. (DONE)
7. Re-invent myself in Paris.
8. Make a positively stunning entrance at an evening party.
9. Rock a fabulous look.
10. Never settle for the idiotic womanizer.

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UNDER-APPRECIATED VOCABULARY WORD OF THE DAY:

panache n. flamboyant confidence of style or manner.

QUEEN OF CLASS QUOTE FOR YOUR PERUSAL:

"People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone."--Audrey Hepburn