briarmor
Some SpoilersA gentle film that really can make you forget for an hour the real world. It is not a dream or a fairy tale, but a well presented story, directed and acted with strenght and heart. I bought some DVD from years 1968 to 1975; unfortunately the Breezy one - I saw the film on TV maybe 25 years ago but always appreciated Eastwood works a lot - has only my native language subtitles and not the English one, so I saw it a few times to get the English dialogue better. Now I saw more clearly some little aspects of the story thanks to the multiple views . Breezy (Lenz) is a young girl who has no money, no real home and nothing except her guitar and positive attitude towards life. She meets by chance Frank (Holden), a 50 something divorced and sometimes angry man who is still in good shape, good looking, has a (beautiful) home, a work and a life. But has really Frank so many things ? He beds occasional lady friends, but no string, no commitments...Betty, one of the ladies, tells him she will marry and Frank is very surprised, because he realise that he gives nothing to them. He gives nothing to nobody. He is afraid and suspicious, especially of Breezy...who maybe wants money, food, a refuge. Breezy appears in his life each day for a week, for a reason or another; she makes him speak, she discusses with him, lead him to the ocean ...Frank becomes more accustomed to her and her ways, his defenses start falling down, piece by piece. It's well acted film, so the little moments are the most poignant...the kiss on the shore is unexpected and Frank can't believe it at first, then smiles, and he appears immediately younger and more alive. The fulcre of the central part is the moment Frank tells Breezy in the bathroom" you don't have to go away": his tone is sweet, soft, a little shy, too. He cannot do the first move, he lets Breezy start their fist night together because he wants to be sure she really wants him. Frank knows too well he is older (in my family, an uncle is 25 yrs older than his second wife, my husband is 4 younger than me, life is bizarre); the "morning after" when playing with their dog in the park he introduces the problem, but Brezy has a marvelous answer about the ageing and the absence of love. Somebody wrote the script is too perfect, too well constructed, but this is the quality of the film. The dialogs are always excellent. And the silences, the looks, are very intense. Breezy is not a vagabond, nor a ignorant girl... she comes from a not so poor background (the way she prepared the table for the dinner left uneaten, the refuse of drugs) so she had simply embraced a lifestyle that during the 70ies lots of young people tried to share..it were revolutionary years, and the establishment was not so ready to accept it. In fact Frank's friends comes from a upper middle class group who is very close and conservative, women do not work (all have the same pearls, it seems), no children around (strange, OK Frank having a teen daughter would have made his affair with Breezy more dirty, but there is a sense of sterility of bodies and minds... no ideas of birth control, does Eastwood suggest a baby in the coming year?), man fantasize about chasing young girls, but when Frank really does it they become envious. Frank and Breezy could hide in their love nest on the hills, but this will kill their flame very soon, they do not share sex only (the scene during the second night, when they disrobe in front of each other, never loosing eye contact, is a strong moment, they take joy and pleasure in the presence of the other, not only in the mere coupling), but since the beginning they shared their stories.... so they go out at dinner, at the movies, knowing well the society will see and judge them, and fears arise. Fear to be happy again, that's the real point of the whole film, Frank is too afraid or upset by what people think of him and so he does not talk a lot, he does not debate with friend Bob about his story, although he wants tell him, twice, there is something new and special in his life. Frank had declared Breezy his strong feelings for her but he pushes Breezy away in a bout of pure fear and feels suddenly the loss, the fireplace is full of flames which does not heat his soul, the beach is empty without her. Luckily for him, Betty 's car accident makes Frank reflect about his situation in a different way. If he had the nerve to start a relationship with Breezy, he can have the nerve to go on with it. And thankfully he tries
james-664
A little-known film directed by Clint Eastwood, it tells the story of a blossoming love affair between two VERY different people. Call me old-fashioned, but I felt they made Breezy too young as it emphasised how prematurely aged Holden looked, and a love affair between a 17 year old hippy and 55 year old divorcée is not particularly palatable. It might have been better had the much younger Eastwood himself taken on the role as originally planned, but I suppose he wanted to stretch the boundaries and this is touched upon. If it were made today, there would probably be scenes of locals firebombing his home and spraying 'PAEDO' down the side of his Lincoln.Try not to think about the 40 year age difference though, and this is a pretty well-made schmaltzy Sunday afternoon film - I even cried at one point - not because of the 2 protagonists, but because of the dog sub-plot. Well acted by all players, particularly Holden who does grumpy and irascible brilliantly. I also love films made during this era with the over-sized cars, stylish women and chintzy Los Angeles designer homes.
Maddyclassicfilms
Breezy was Clint Eastwood's third film as a director and his first where(apart from a blink and you'll miss him cameo)he was not an actor.It's written by Jo Heims and stars William Holden and Kay Lenz.Holden and Lenz have a lovely chemistry and their contrasting performances(his restrained at first but slowly opening up,while she plays a free spirit to perfection)really work well against one another.Breezy(Kay Lenz)is a guitar strumming hippie,who believes in free love and peace above all else.One day after hitching a lift from a man who brags about having sex with women hitch-hikers she comes across the hillside home of middle aged divorced estate agent,Frank Harmon(William Holden).Frank's a ladies man who has no time for a longterm commitment,that is until he meets Breezy.What starts as a slow building friendship soon develops into a passionate and tender love affair with Breezy falling for him completely,but can he take that extra step to make a commitment as well as coping with snide comments about the age difference,from his friends? Beautifully acted with Holden deserving a special mention for gradually revealing the many different layers of the complex,set in his ways Frank.Lenz embodies the hippy chick role to perfection and makes Breezy a lovable kook,who's got quite an adult head on her young shoulders.Eagle eyed viewers should have fun spotting the two Clint cameos(one of which is in poster form).A beautiful film about taking chances and seeing where life will take you if you'll let it.
