Everybody has heard of the Great Gatsby. Quite a few people have read the book, which is not long and still somehow intriguing even though it is nearly a hundred years old.
There are at least five movie versions, I think, maybe more. I've just seen this one. The story line is utterly plausible, even common. Gatsby, in his younger days, meets Daisy, a young woman at a function while they are in their youth. Gatsby is infatuated, she as well, but Daisy is always infatuated we learn over time. Unfortunately, Gatsby lacks the money to marry her and asks Daisy to wait, while he goes off and makes his fortune. After a few years, Gatsby has his dough and returns to collect his prize, and the movie begins. Regrettably Daisy is married to Tom, her wealthy and philandering abusive and arrogant husband. Gatsby seeks to win her back with an ostentatious show of wealth, huge house, gorgeous cars, great clothes, fabulous parties. At first it works and he recreates their original bliss, which he tries to make permanent, but then Daisy hesitates and eventually abandons Gatsby to stay with her husband, even though he cheats on her and is abusive.
No one is surprised by this conclusion, leaving only the question of the resolution of the scorned lover. Gatsby could simply disappear, he could find someone else, but neither of those options fit the tone of the story, and suicide is not acceptable, the hero would not do that.
Instead, he is murdered by the husband of another woman that is having an affair with Tom, because the husband thinks Gatsby ran his wife over on the road in a careless rush to get home, not knowing she died trying to reach Tom. In that little subplot, Gatsby the other lover and her husband and whatever respect we might have for Tom or Daisy are eradicated.
The story resonates for everyone who thinks of the person from their youth "who got away" who was beloved but for whatever reason did not last. The irony is that Tom, Daisy and Gatsby are all shallow self centred idiots who value money above all else, and associate a persons worth with their bank balance. We find out that Gatsby made his money as a bootlegger. We are never quite clear how Tom made his money but we know it wasn't by being a nice guy. Daisy, as played by Mia Farrow, is so stupid she is irritating, making us struggle to figure out what Gatsby, played by Robert Redford, could possibly see in her. At first I though casting Farrow in the role was a mistake, but it's ultimately brilliant, the ultimate Irony. Gatsby blows his entire life trying to win over this utter moron and in the end she just abandons him without a moments hesitation. Her worthless husband can't even be bothered to kill Garsby himself, he cons the husband of his lover into doing it. And in the end, everybody on the Gatsby side is either dead of damaged and Tom and Daisy head out on a cruise to "fix things up". Money can do that. Not a perfect movie but an epic one in my view.
There are at least five movie versions, I think, maybe more. I've just seen this one. The story line is utterly plausible, even common. Gatsby, in his younger days, meets Daisy, a young woman at a function while they are in their youth. Gatsby is infatuated, she as well, but Daisy is always infatuated we learn over time. Unfortunately, Gatsby lacks the money to marry her and asks Daisy to wait, while he goes off and makes his fortune. After a few years, Gatsby has his dough and returns to collect his prize, and the movie begins. Regrettably Daisy is married to Tom, her wealthy and philandering abusive and arrogant husband. Gatsby seeks to win her back with an ostentatious show of wealth, huge house, gorgeous cars, great clothes, fabulous parties. At first it works and he recreates their original bliss, which he tries to make permanent, but then Daisy hesitates and eventually abandons Gatsby to stay with her husband, even though he cheats on her and is abusive.
No one is surprised by this conclusion, leaving only the question of the resolution of the scorned lover. Gatsby could simply disappear, he could find someone else, but neither of those options fit the tone of the story, and suicide is not acceptable, the hero would not do that.
Instead, he is murdered by the husband of another woman that is having an affair with Tom, because the husband thinks Gatsby ran his wife over on the road in a careless rush to get home, not knowing she died trying to reach Tom. In that little subplot, Gatsby the other lover and her husband and whatever respect we might have for Tom or Daisy are eradicated.
The story resonates for everyone who thinks of the person from their youth "who got away" who was beloved but for whatever reason did not last. The irony is that Tom, Daisy and Gatsby are all shallow self centred idiots who value money above all else, and associate a persons worth with their bank balance. We find out that Gatsby made his money as a bootlegger. We are never quite clear how Tom made his money but we know it wasn't by being a nice guy. Daisy, as played by Mia Farrow, is so stupid she is irritating, making us struggle to figure out what Gatsby, played by Robert Redford, could possibly see in her. At first I though casting Farrow in the role was a mistake, but it's ultimately brilliant, the ultimate Irony. Gatsby blows his entire life trying to win over this utter moron and in the end she just abandons him without a moments hesitation. Her worthless husband can't even be bothered to kill Garsby himself, he cons the husband of his lover into doing it. And in the end, everybody on the Gatsby side is either dead of damaged and Tom and Daisy head out on a cruise to "fix things up". Money can do that. Not a perfect movie but an epic one in my view.
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