I was surprised at how much I loved Funny Face. It looks beautiful, with stunning locations(Paris especially looks gorgeous), splendid costumes and sets and ravishing photography. George and Ira Gershwin's songs are superb, I especially loved Funny Face and How Long Has This Been Going On?, and the incidental music is suitably mellow, while the story is wonderfully romantic if very simple and the script sparkles with wit.
Stanley Donen's direction is credible, and the choreography fits each musical sequence very nicely, especially that of He Loves, She Loves which is beautifully filmed and Audrey Hepburn is so elegant in this scene. The performances add a lot to this film. Fred Astaire is charming and debonair and acts, sings and dances very well. Audrey Hepburn is beautiful and very beguiling, while Kay Thompson also stands out which is no easy feat considering she is up against two greats. In regards to the chemistry and the age difference between Astaire and Hepburn, I had no problem with the age difference and I thought the two worked really well together.
However, Funny Face does have a few scenes that I am not all that fond of. One is the Clap Yo' Hands routine, it's well performed and choreographed but to me it was also very dated and humourless. The main ones are the ones with the ridicule of Emile Flostre, which came across as very anti-intellectual and very atypical of Donen.
Overall though, it is a very nice film and great fun. 8/10 Bethany Cox
Stanley Donen's direction is credible, and the choreography fits each musical sequence very nicely, especially that of He Loves, She Loves which is beautifully filmed and Audrey Hepburn is so elegant in this scene. The performances add a lot to this film. Fred Astaire is charming and debonair and acts, sings and dances very well. Audrey Hepburn is beautiful and very beguiling, while Kay Thompson also stands out which is no easy feat considering she is up against two greats. In regards to the chemistry and the age difference between Astaire and Hepburn, I had no problem with the age difference and I thought the two worked really well together.
However, Funny Face does have a few scenes that I am not all that fond of. One is the Clap Yo' Hands routine, it's well performed and choreographed but to me it was also very dated and humourless. The main ones are the ones with the ridicule of Emile Flostre, which came across as very anti-intellectual and very atypical of Donen.
Overall though, it is a very nice film and great fun. 8/10 Bethany Cox