Destination: Southern France
Book: Audrey Hepburn, A Charmed Life by Robyn Karney (2012) [READ TO THE END TO SEE HOW TO WIN THIS BOOK!]
I’ll wager that this road trip movie is like nothing you’ve ever seen before. And you may not have seen it, because while Audrey Hepburn is associated with smash hits like Gigi (on stage), Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Charade with Cary Grant, Two for the Road was obscure, playing for a time in art houses.
Some believe it was her best acting job, although she also had challenging roles in The Nun’s Story and Wait Until Dark. Whether you like the non-linear plot line of Two for the Road, you must admit that playing a woman at two very different stages of her life is more challenging than most of her other roles. It also is different because it contains the only true sex scene that occurs in any of her movies. She was known to turn down movies that dealt in violence or required her to take off her clothes.
In Two for the Road, a prosperous married couple are traveling in the south of France, driving an expensive sports car on a high-class road trip to the home of the husband’s client. That trip brings up memories of how they met on a hitchhiking road trip. From there the film bounces to a disastrous road trip with an incompatible couple with a bratty child, and back and forth between the bickering marriage of today to the carefree days of youth.
The tone varies from romantic, to comedic, to deep sadness, and reconciliation.
Watching the film is challenging if you like a simple, straight-forward story line. However, any travel will be longing to take a Southern France road trip, stopping at the movie locations, listed in Wikipedia as:
Chateau de Chantilly, France
Port Grimaud, France, Photo by Tobias Von der Haar
- Beauvallon, Drôme, France
- Cap Valéry, France
- Château de Chantilly, Chantilly, Oise, France
- French Riviera, Alpes-Maritimes, France
- Grimaud, Var, France
- La Colle-sur-Loup, Alpes-Maritimes, France
- Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France
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St. Tropez, France
Paris, France
- Port de Nice, Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France (ferry disembarkment sequence)
- Ramatuelle, Var, France (Dalbret villa scenes)
- Restaurant Leï Mouscardins, Rue Portalet, Saint-Tropez, Var, France
- Saint-Tropez, Var, France
- Étangs de Commelles, Coye-la-Forêt, Oise, France
THE BOOK
I learned more about the making of the film in a newly released biography of Hepburn. For instance, she was thirty-seven in the film, and had to portray her own age, plus a younger, virginal self of 18 or 20. She and her husband Mel Ferrar were having marital problems, and her rapport with Albert Finney both ads poignancy to the movie and led to rampant rumors at the time.
The large photo book biography, Audrey Hepburn: A Charmed Life fills in the whole story of the elfin star who never failed to charm. What young woman did not sigh over her fashionable clothes, her sophistication mixed with innocence as she floated effortlessly through Paris, Manhattan, and other corners of the world? Reading this book, you will come away understanding things you never suspected about the charmer. (Read more about the book in my review at Reel Life With Jane).
After some early forgettable roles, she got her break-through role in Gigi-- hand-picked for the role by French novelist, Collete. Robyn Karney captures the rough spots of her life as well as enumerating all of the important directors and fellow actors who helped Hepburn along the way. Thus we get a balanced picture of her life and understand better how someone so beautiful and so successful could constantly be worried about her looks and her performances.
Audrey Hepburn: A Charmed Life
However, if you are a movie fan, and particularly if you are one of those little girls who yearned to be as thin and as glamorous as the world-citizen , Givenchy-wearing Audrey Hepburn, you’ll want to try to win this book with its great story and lavish photos of Hepburn and other celebrities.
TO WIN YOUR COPY OF Audrey Hepburn: A Charmed Life
Leave a Comment about Audrey Hepburn below.
To double your chances, enter both here AND comment on my article about Audrey Hepburn at Reel Life With Jane.
Basic Rules:
- Must have a U.S. mailing address.
- Must be over 18.
- Contest closes November 2, 2012, midnight EST.
- Do NOT leave shipping address in your comment–we will contact you for your address if you win.
Note: There are Amazon Associates links in this post which allow you to benefit A Traveler’s Library when you shop at Amazon. It does not cost you extra, but you will be supporting your favorite website.
Photos of France are from Flickr, used with Creative Commons license.
Vote for my article on WorldTravelist.com, sharing the best travel content on the web.
About the Author:
A freelance writer who loves to travel. When she is not traveling she is reading about travel. When she is not reading or traveling, she is sharing with the readers of A Traveler's Library, recreating her family's past at Ancestors In Aprons. She writes frequently for Reel Life With Jane and other websites. Also co-author of a biography, Quincy Tahoma, The Life and Legacy of a Navajo Artist. Contact Vera Marie by e-mail.
Vera Marie Badertscher – who has written 684 posts on A Traveler's Library.
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Tags: Albert Finney, Audrey Hepburn, Biography, BlogSherpa, France, giveaway, movie review, Road Trip, Southern France, Two For the Road
We have a winner! The winner of Audrey Hepburn: A Charmed Life is… [drum roll here]… Brette Sember! Thanks to everyone for playing, and stay tuned for more great giveaways from A Traveler’s Library and Reel Life With Jane.
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Jane Boursaw would like you to read..Watch the Skyfall Music Video with Adele Singing the Title Track
To be honest, I don’t know much about Audrey Hepburn but I am intrigued by her. I watched a special on PBS about her recently and didn’t realize how interesting her life was!
I’m glad Kerry brought up a Nun’s Story. One of my favorite performances by Audrey Hepburn. Such an amazing actor.
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MyKidsEatSquid would like you to read..Spider cupcakes and more Halloween goodies
Love Audrey Hepburn! I dressed up as Audrey Hepburn for an Academy Award’s party. Great fun!
I saw The Nun’s Story again recently after years — decades — of not having seen it. Audrey Hepburn does such a fine job with a character caught in the conflicts of many sorts of discernment about vocation, obedience, and God’s will.
I liked the very different style of Two for the Road, as well. Maybe it’s time to view that again. And let’s not forget Robin and Marian.
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Kerry Dexter would like you to read..Cape Breton Music: Remembering Raylene Rankin
Audrey Hepburn is one of my favorite ladies… She is extra special because she is someone my daughter and I love watching together!
Connie would like you to read..Feature Friday: Enid Blyton Books
Connie: You’re BACK! Welcome.
Two for the Road is one of my favorite movies — magical and poignant. So glad you mentioned it so that others can enjoy.
I’d love to win this book for the pictures alone~
Have a special place in my heart for Audrey Hepburn. So gracious as well as fun. Would love a copy of the book! Thank you for the offer.
Sounds like a great book for a friend of mine in Atlanta.
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Melanie would like you to read..Spring Photo Safari
My daughter LOVES Audrey Hepburn. She even used one her quotes as her senior quote in the yearbook. She would love this book and movie
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Brette Sember would like you to read..Announcing New Ebook!
Mercer’s lyrics, nonsensical? Are we not after the same rainbow’s end, my huckleberry friend?
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Germaine Shames would like you to read..Born to Dance
Regarding Two for the Road, what stays with me is the film’s achingly poignant theme song.
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Germaine Shames would like you to read..Born to Dance
Germaine. Striking song, by Henri Mancini who also wrote Moon River for Breakfast at Tiffany’s. That’s a winning tune, but nonsensical lyrics that someohow manage to sound schmaltzily emotional anyway. My favorite of his movie songs is Days of Wine and Roses.