Sabrina (1954)

Billy Wilder’s ‘Sabrina’

Thematic Elements:

Wilder takes on the theme of New World materialism vs Old World romanticism. At the beginning of the film Sabrina longs to be a member of the upper class because she believes it will bring her happiness. She longs to be with Holden’s character who seems happy being in a rich family. Because she realizes that she will never marry into the affluent class, she cannot bear to keep living so she decides to kill herself. However, Bogart’s character catches her in the act and stops her. After learning Parisian custom and seeming to be a more elegant and affluent person (although she is not more affluent in any economic sense), she is finally noticed by Holden. Holden never even noticed her until she appeared to be more in line with the sensibilities of his class. However, it is Bogart that she makes a connection with. It is Bogart that reveals to her that although he is the head of a major company, has an enormous amount of wealth, and has all the material items he could ever want, he too is not happy. This is made evident from his confessions of attempted suicide. Sabrina and Bogart realize through each other that individual happiness can’t come from materialism and class rank, but from genuine human connection.

Camerawork: Wilder tells the story through the lens of a fairy tale. It likens itself to a modern Cinderella story. However, that likening gets subverted when the prince and princess choose to forgo being ‘royalty’ in exchange for happiness beyond the modern world of materialism.  

Best Shot: A great shot in the film is the shot of Sabrina waiting on her ‘prince charming’ (ultimately he never shows up but Bogart shows up instead). Sabrina’s visage appears small in this vast room of the tennis court covered in shadow. Wilder is using the vastness of the room with Sabrina standing alone in the middle and the dark shadows to illustrate Sabina’s dark isolation.  The fact that she is dressed in affluent clothes and standing in a privately own tennis court while still being so incredibly alone plays into the theme that the vast amount of wealth and materialism Sabrina is surrounding herself with is still not providing her the happiness she’s been seeking.