Funny Face

Audrey Hepburn does indeed fill the air with smiles in Stanley Donen's exquisite and happy film about a shy book clerk in New York who is transformed into the toast of the Paris fashion world. George and Ira Gershwin wrote some of their best songs for the film and a few additional numbers were contributed by Roger Edens and Leonard Gershe, who also wrote the delightful story. The premise is quite frivilous but the execution glorious and joyful and it is easy to see why this was Audrey's favorite among all her films.Fred Astaire is winning as fashion photographer Dick Avery and Kay Thompson is marvelous as Miss Prescott, the one-track mind owner of Quality Magazine he works for. Hepburn is adorable as the shy New York bookstore clerk, Jo Stockton. They bully her into letting them do a photo shoot, making a mess off things for her to clean up. From the moment Donen's camera catches her sliding on the ladder in panic we are in love and we know it won't be long before Jo and Dick are also.Jo is a shy intellectual, mad about empathicalism, a screwy philosophy endorsed by Professor Emile Flustre (Michel Auclair) who, of course, lives in Paris. Once Dick displays his own brand of empathy by kissing Jo while they are cleaning up, he gets an idea for a new layout and the seed of love is planted in Jo's heart. Donen captures Hepburn's child-like yet feminine grace like no one else ever has and her wistful and waif-like beauty has never been seen to better advantage than in Funny Face.Making Jo the face for Quality magazine may not be such an easy task, however, as it goes against everything she believes. Being chased by Miss Prescott's minions, Jo ducks into Dick's darkroom, where she and Dick share a lovely song and dance moment to the title-tune, Funny Face. Once Jo discovers it will all lead to Paris, where she can meet the great empathicalist, Emile, she gives the green light and the fun really begins.Stanley Donen staged every song himself, and it shows. That moment that nearly always exists in every musical, even the great ones, when we are tempted to fast-forward and get on with the story, simply does not exist here. Every number is lively and imaginative, easily holding our interest. None of the numbers is more joyful or fun than the one when they first arrive in Paris and become typical tourists. Ray June's photography shows off the beautiful City of Lights and the funny and happy face of Audrey Hepburn in wonderful fashion.It is like watching a great chef make the sweetest and most delicious of pastries as Dick takes Jo through one great shoot after another all over Paris, transforming the cocoon into a butterfly. The two share a lovely song sequence in a garden with a brook outside a church, when Jo finally tells Dick she is in love with him. Hepburn in a white wedding gown is as elegant and graceful as the doves and swans surrounding them.There are some fun complications involving Jo's idol Emile, of course, who Dick knows is more man than philosopher. A fun and frantic ending caps a film that is a sheer delight from beginning to end. Astaire was somewhat older than Hepburn and it seems to work in the film's favor, as you could see where the innocent Jo would need a more worldly man to appreciate her charms rather than take advantage of them.This is a wonderful confection from Stanley Donen, who would work with Audrey once again in another classic, Charade. The little girl from Holland who aided the Dutch resistence during WWII grew into one of the most lovely and luminous stars ever to grace a movie screen. She is gone now and Funny Face is a wonderful way to remember her......

Music by the Gershwins, costumes by Edith Head and Hubert de Givenchy, choreography by Fred Astaire, direction by Stanley Donen, luminescence by Audrey Hepburn- what's not to love about "Funny Face"? This Blu-ray import from the UK is truly wonderful and its content from the last great decade of American studio musicals is truly marvelous.When this film's star Audrey Hepburn began her film career, she had serious daddy issues on screen as a result of the choices made by her handlers. Fresh from her Oscar triumph in "Roman Holiday" (1953), Audrey was cast in "Sabrina" (1954), opposite two fellow Oscar winners, Humphrey Bogart and William Holden, one considerably older than she, the other not so much. In "Funny Face" (1957), Fred Astaire is definitely in the daddy category as was her co-star Gary Cooper in "Love in the Afternoon", made the same year. The pattern of putting the screen's eternal gamine opposite aging male superstars reached its apotheosis in "Charade" (1963), returning Audrey to Paris and her favorite designer Givenchy in the company of Cary Grant. In that film, the May-November romance is both mocked and fulfilled.The formulae of classic American romantic comedy decreed the union of the above the title stars by film's end and so it is with "Funny Face". Audrey is afforded the opportunity to learn from America's foremost male film dancer, Astaire, in this eye-poppingly colorful rendition of classic Gershwin songs, grounded in an Oscar nominated, flimsy but serviceable script by Leonard Gershe. Hepburn and Astaire ("He Loves and She Loves") must end up together, but the Astaire character's true soul mate is editor-in-chief Maggie Prescott, played with razor sharp wit and panache by Kay Thompson in a rare film performance.Talk about strong women : the real life Anna Wintour and the fictional Miranda Priestly of "The Devil Wears Prada"(2006) would be docile and conciliatory in comparison to the Kay Thompson character. No wonder she's shocked when Astaire announces his love for Hepburn. While many in the audience would share such a sentiment, lethal ambition, the desire to dominate ("Think Pink"), and impeccable taste have combined to make both editor and photographer the apogee of American fashion in the film's stylistic universe.The film itself has been beautifully transferred to Blu-ray, using British spellings for the English subtitles (there are loads of aural options) and a tin ear for American slang ("bozazz" for "pizzazz"). While the quality of the flesh tones varies, none is particularly disturbing. The color palette (black was and still is the hipster color) and sound mixing are very true to the 1950's, with Donen's "Singin' in the Rain" (1952) being the template and Minnelli's "Gigi" (1958), the last hurrah.The Parisian locations and the gorgeous costumes are worth are the purchase price by themselves. Those who have plowed through Jean Paul Sartre's "Being and Nothingness", either in the original French or in English translation, will hopefully have the sense of humor requisite to appreciate existentialist thought simplified into empathicalist feeling and its philosopher priest into a classic French roue."Bonjour Paris" says it all- bonjour tous les artistes in the making of this exquisite film.

Si tiene subtítulos en español

This film is essentially an M.G.M. musical even though it is a Paramount production it uses Stanley Donen who directed 'Singing In The Rain' and 'On The Town' for M.G.M. also Fred Astaire who made some of his finest musicals at M.G.M. ['The Band Wagon', 'Silk Stockings' and 'Easter Parade']. Audrey Hepburn is very good in this film and it is her best performance in a musical, this is probably because the movies that star Astaire are more dance orientated so it doesn't present a challenge for her limited vocal range [this would be exposed in 'My Fair Lady'] as for the dancing she was when she was younger trained in the ballet so she moves very gracefully and when she or Astaire are dancing the movie works beautifully. The movie is almost stolen from it's two stars by the performance of Kay Thompson who is magnificent as the dictatorial magazine editor and funnily enough the chemistry between her and Astaire is better than the chemistry between him and Hepburn. So what you have is an M.G.M. musical not made by M.G.M. but that does not detract from this light wonderful concoction.

Done in typical Hollywood 50's style, Funny Face is the story of a bookshop clerk (Audrey Hepburn) with a love for all things philosophical who happens to have a 'funny face'. She is discovered by a world-famous fashion photographer (wonderful Fred Astaire) who loves her 'sunny funny face' and thinks that she could be the biggest thing in fashion. He convinces his magazine editor (Kay Thompson) to take a chance on the girl, and bribing Hepburn with the chance to meet her philosophy lecturer idol, they whisk her off to the most fashionable city in the world - Paris!!It was called by one reviewer 'a delightful mixture of intelligence and froth' which is exactly what it is. It's sheer entertainment like we don't have in today's cinema, with no pretence, just fun.Audrey Hepburn is lovely as usual, and really gets to show off her dancing talent in the classic 'Basal Metabollism' sequence. She looks amazing in the Givenchy/Edith Head fashion of the day, the entire movie plays like a huge fashion show for her (which is always a plus).Fred Astaire is charming and proves that he can still dance up a storm and croon a song even if the age difference between him and Hepburn is slightly unbelievable. But he charms you into forgetting all that.Kay Thompson was really great as the magazine editor, loud and brassy and very funny.The songs are Gershwin classics and are performed excellently by the entire cast. Audrey Hepburn charms her way through 'How Long Has This Been Going On?', Fred Astaire sings 'He Loves, She Loves' and dances another of his classic routines to the title song 'Funny Face'. And Kay Thompson gets to belt out 'Think Pink'.But the most stunning aspect of this film really is the picture quality and technicolour. I have honestly never seen a better looking technicolour film. It's utterly beautiful and hasn't aged a single bit, from the dance to Funny Face in the developing room with only red lighting, to the underground cafe' in Paris lit by multicoloured lights.A really nice, entertaining movie that is a rightful classic.

This is one of my all time favourite films. A feel good film from beginning to end, very loosely based on a real fashion photographer. Even though there's such an age difference between Hepburn and Astaire, somehow it still works. The music, by George and Ira Gershwin is great, and the costumes are spectacular. I bought the DVD with the cover shown. The sound was very good indeed, but the picture quality is a bit grainy and not sharp. I suppose it's because it's from the 1950s and it hasn't been digitally remastered (if that's the correct phrase). It's watchable but don't expect HD quality.

This review focuses on the blu ray version of Funny Face. I've owned Funny Face on VHS for years and then on DVD which was a disappointment. The quality of the DVD was awful, especially the scene at the small church in France where Astaire dances with Audrey in her wedding dress. On Blu Ray that scene looks way better and sharper but suffers from a lack of better source material. But there are so many other scenes that look tremendous! The New York bookstore fashion shoot is a masterfully lit scene with amazing depth of field, which I never noticed before in other versions. Also the first scene in an office with the fashion magazine editor are outstanding as well; the colours pop like cotton candy! Other fantastic scenes which show great depth, colour and sharpness on Blu Ray are the Paris exteriors, the club scene when Audrey Hepburn dances like Michael Jackson in white socks or vice-versa; I would think. And of course the fashion sequences throughout, look amazing!. Funny Face doesn't seem just funny anymore, it's also serious film making.