2012 Movie #25 - Roman Holiday (1953) I love this movie. I’ve seen it a few times before, but I’m always amazed by how a well made movie based on a simple concept and perfect cast can be so incredible. Audrey Hepburn is unbelievably good in the film. For me, this is the definition of a movie-star performance for an actress like Hepburn. Her acting is fantastic, but beyond that it’s the fresh open joy and discovery that you can read on her face. That goes beyond acting ability and into pure movie star territory. What I’ll take away: The scene at the Bocca della Verità is one of my favorite scenes of all time. It manages to create a focal point for every element of the film, and create a scene that perfectly embraces the power of cinema. The Bocca della Verità (the “Mouth of Truth,” image below) is a large round sculpture in Rome of a large face with an open hole for a mouth. Gregory Peck’s character (Joe) tells Audrey Hepburn’s character (Ann) the legend of the statue. That if someone is lying while they have their hand in the statue’s mouth, the hand will be bitten off. Joe then encourages Ann to put her hand in the mouth. Of course, Ann won’t do this because she’s lying to Joe about her identity (pretending not to be a princess), and of course Ann doesn’t know that Joe knows this already, which is probably why Joe brought her here and put her in this situation. It heightens the scene for the audience who is already aware of Ann pretending to not be a princess, and Joe’s knowledge of this. Ann edges towards putting her hand in the hole, but is too afraid, pulling back her hand just before the edge. She turns the tables, asking Joe to do it instead. Now we know that Joe is lying to Ann about his identity, but Ann doesn’t realize this. She thinks that she’s innocently asking Joe to put his hand in the hole. This makes the table-turning even funnier, as we see Ann unintentionally put Joe in an awkward situation. So the audience is gleefully juggling the inter-dynamics of the character relationships, what the characters know about each other, and what lies they’re telling to each other. And the film creates a natural situation that fulfills both the exotic travel possibilities of the premise and the central character dynamic that drives the engine of the film. Of course, Joe puts his hand in the mouth. And he pretends it’s bitten off. Causing a jump for Ann and for the audience, as for a moment we think that perhaps the myth of the statue is real! He removes his arm from the mouth, and his hand is gone! But he quickly reveals the hand up his sleeve. The scene has a short fright of horror, and then a quick laugh release and bonding between the two characters after the innocent joke is revealed. The true mastery of this scene is in how expertly it plays with the interplay of audience knowledge about the situation and the characters. Almost line to line we jump forwards and backwards in our knowledge of the situation between the characters. It’s done so well that during the scene the audience feels like an invisible third character in the film. And it does all this while providing us with a scene that advances the plot, the character arcs, and the marketing hook of visiting an exotic location with two beautiful movie stars. It even has a quick jump-scare! So, yeah, ROMAN HOLIDAY is a good movie. High-res

2012 Movie #25 - Roman Holiday (1953)

I love this movie. I’ve seen it a few times before, but I’m always amazed by how a well made movie based on a simple concept and perfect cast can be so incredible. Audrey Hepburn is unbelievably good in the film. For me, this is the definition of a movie-star performance for an actress like Hepburn. Her acting is fantastic, but beyond that it’s the fresh open joy and discovery that you can read on her face. That goes beyond acting ability and into pure movie star territory.

What I’ll take away: The scene at the Bocca della Verità is one of my favorite scenes of all time. It manages to create a focal point for every element of the film, and create a scene that perfectly embraces the power of cinema. The Bocca della Verità (the “Mouth of Truth,” image below) is a large round sculpture in Rome of a large face with an open hole for a mouth. Gregory Peck’s character (Joe) tells Audrey Hepburn’s character (Ann) the legend of the statue. That if someone is lying while they have their hand in the statue’s mouth, the hand will be bitten off. Joe then encourages Ann to put her hand in the mouth. Of course, Ann won’t do this because she’s lying to Joe about her identity (pretending not to be a princess), and of course Ann doesn’t know that Joe knows this already, which is probably why Joe brought her here and put her in this situation. It heightens the scene for the audience who is already aware of Ann pretending to not be a princess, and Joe’s knowledge of this. Ann edges towards putting her hand in the hole, but is too afraid, pulling back her hand just before the edge. She turns the tables, asking Joe to do it instead. Now we know that Joe is lying to Ann about his identity, but Ann doesn’t realize this. She thinks that she’s innocently asking Joe to put his hand in the hole. This makes the table-turning even funnier, as we see Ann unintentionally put Joe in an awkward situation.

So the audience is gleefully juggling the inter-dynamics of the character relationships, what the characters know about each other, and what lies they’re telling to each other. And the film creates a natural situation that fulfills both the exotic travel possibilities of the premise and the central character dynamic that drives the engine of the film.

Of course, Joe puts his hand in the mouth. And he pretends it’s bitten off. Causing a jump for Ann and for the audience, as for a moment we think that perhaps the myth of the statue is real! He removes his arm from the mouth, and his hand is gone! But he quickly reveals the hand up his sleeve. The scene has a short fright of horror, and then a quick laugh release and bonding between the two characters after the innocent joke is revealed.

The true mastery of this scene is in how expertly it plays with the interplay of audience knowledge about the situation and the characters. Almost line to line we jump forwards and backwards in our knowledge of the situation between the characters. It’s done so well that during the scene the audience feels like an invisible third character in the film. And it does all this while providing us with a scene that advances the plot, the character arcs, and the marketing hook of visiting an exotic location with two beautiful movie stars. It even has a quick jump-scare!

So, yeah, ROMAN HOLIDAY is a good movie.

The Mouth of Truth