Yesterday I watched
Two for the Road with Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney. Being a life-long Audrey fan I'm not quite sure why I've never watched it before, but I think it must have been because of other fans telling me that it wasn't one of her best. It does suffer from a bit of self-conscious grooviness that afflicts some films from the latter half of the sixties, and I wasn't entirely convinced by Hepburn and Finney's love/hate affair/marriage, but the film does have some genuinely funny and poignant moments, the Henry Mancini score is simply beautiful, and visually it is gorgeous. Set mainly in the South of France it has scenery, cool cars and high fashion galore.
Since becoming a star I believe this was Audrey's first vehicle where Givenchy was not responsible for her costumes. Instead off-the-peg designs from Paco Rabanne, Mary Quant, Andre Courreges and Tuffin and Foale were used to dress Audrey's character as she grew from young travelling choir girl to wealthy housewife. The result is some seriously cutting edge outfits. Check out the black vinyl suit. Or the two evening dresses by Paco Rabanne: the psychedelic shift and that mirrorball-esque silver dress with matching earrings. My favourites from the film though are the swimsuits Audrey wears in the beach and pool scenes (love that pastel one) and the simple jeans and sweater sets she wears in the falling in love scenes. A pair of high-waisted jeans with a sweater and slip-on shoes never goes out of style for weekend wear.
Check out the trailer for the film here. Audrey was 38 when it was made and was as beautiful and stylish as ever.
