Audrey: A Look Into the Life of a Legend

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Audrey, a documentary focusing on the iconic Audrey Hepburn, is a captivating and informational movie on her career and personal life. 

Two main points the movie affirmed multiple times were her lifelong dream to be a dancer and how important both giving and receiving love was to her.

Especially in the beginning of the movie, as it moves through her life showing her pathway to acting, it is clear dancing is all she wanted to do. She began dancing during WW2 as an entertainer for people desperately trying to forget the struggles of life during a war. Dance was her passion, and she studied at the Rambert Ballet School in London after WW2. 

However, she started acting to make money, and as people recognized her talent, that became her career. 

The roles she took in movies reflected who she was — sweet and innocent, but also classy, elegant, and strong. Many of her characters had these traits: Princess Ann in Roman Holiday, Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, or Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady

Shown below is a short compilation of scenes from just a few of her different movies that mirror her personality in real life. 

Not only did the film specifically explain these things, but throughout it there are also multiple cameos depicting elegant dancers — an added touch that really seemed unnecessary in the end. 

Audrey’s emphasis on love was another point that was prominent in the movie. Interviewees said that she lacked love as a child, with a father who abandoned the family and a rather cold mother. They explained that this fact, along with her two divorces, may have led there to be a lack of real love for a person so beloved by society. With determination, she took all the love in her heart and shared it to the best of her ability. Leaving her quiet home in Switzerland — where she retired –she became an ambassador for UNICEF and traveled around the world helping children in horrific situations.

The documentary did a good job getting clips of her speaking at events, in some of her many movies, as well as collecting accounts of Audrey’s life from many different friends and relatives. They all spoke seemingly very truthfully, pointing out her issues as well as praising her highly for her many accomplishments.

While it is worth watching if you want to learn more about her, do not expect to find any inventive spin on documentaries. It follows the basic plotline of going through all the stages of her life and covering all of the important and interesting aspects of her story — and definitely diving deeper into the personal side of her life than many other movies about famous people in history. Overall, it does a great job of covering the facts and providing viewers a thoughtful summary of who Audrey was and what she did, but it was somewhat boring to sit through. 

Every person is more deep and complex than any film could convey, and Audrey Hepburn probably had more faults than what was shown. If she was alive today she might feel that it gave her more credit than she deserved. Also, while the film covered a lot, there are still many more good and bad truths about her that could have been explored.

For example, she began helping people in her early life during WW2 as a part of the Dutch Resistance, a big part of her legacy not mentioned very much in the documentary.

Audrey Hepburn around the time Nazis occupied the Netherlands. (Photo of Dotti Collection)

Audrey Hepburn grew from a malnourished child to one of the most famous actresses and humanitarian figures of her time — even today people can take inspiration from her in so many different ways: her talent, deep compassion for the world, ability to rise up from hardships, and her fashion is admirable. 

“Her image, her style, her way of life, that’s her great beauty.” 

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