![]() The focus has been shifted slightly, so that Sabrina is no longer primarily the story of a shy, love-struck girl who turns into a fetchingly sophisticated woman. In short, this is gossamer with a hint of gravitas. The romance is all the more romantic, and the funny stuff is all the more amusing, because it's set against the very distinct possibility of unhappily-ever-aftering. The new Sabrina is an enchanting romantic comedy with the magic of a fairy tale, but also with the poignance of a broken heart. Compare Pollack's Sabrina to, say, Stella, the disastrous 1990 updating of Stella Dallas, and you can appreciate the difference between an artful reimagining and a hopeless anachronism.Įven more impressive, however, is the way Pollack has managed to give his gossamer concoction a core of genuine feeling. And it is very much to the credit of director Sydney Pollack and screenwriters Barbara Benedek and David Rayfiel that, unlike some other makers of remakes, they have recognized what no longer works, what no longer is relevant and what may be most difficult to preserve about the original. ![]() With its matter-of-fact acknowledgment of class distinctions, its glossy, fashion-magazine emphasis on the heroine's made-over look and its unashamedly romanticized view of life and love among the rich and fatuous of Long Island, Wilder's Sabrina is very much a movie of its time. But fall in love he does, with magically transforming results that lead, inevitably, to a happily-ever-after ending. Falling in love with her isn't part of the plan. Eager to avoid a scandal, the playboy's older, uptight brother (an affectingly autumnal Humphrey Bogart) sets out to woo Sabrina, to distract her from his feckless sibling. Unfortunately, while he's noticing Sabrina, he's ignoring his wealthy fiancee. She returns as a smart and self-assured fashion plate who makes the playboy stand up and take notice. Sabrina (Audrey Hepburn), the mousy little chauffeur's daughter, goes off to Paris to nurse a broken heart - she's fallen for a gallivanting playboy (William Holden) who doesn't know she's alive - and to train as a chef. And rightfully so, being that it's a canny update of the Cinderella mythos, with just a smidgen of the Ugly Ducking story tossed in for good measure. Or those that admit that, at other times, Prince Charming never shows up with the glass slipper, simply because he's something of a heel.īilly Wilder's 1954 Sabrina is the kind of shimmering confection that even people who are stubbornly immune to its charms describe as a fairy tale. Perhaps the very best fairy tales are those that allow for the possibility that, sometimes, Prince Charming gets lost along the way and doesn't find his sleeping beauty.
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