"The problem is not that Wolf tells the story of a morally
repugnant guy, it's that the morally repugnant guy's memoir is the basis
for the script, meaning we're getting the details from his skewed,
self-serving perspective. DiCaprio states that Scorcese doesn't 'want to pass judgment on these people,'
but given the serious lack of neutrality in the source material, that
directorial neutrality leaves the audience at the mercy of an
emotionally hedonistic, fiscally sociopathic narcissist who clearly
loves the sound of his own life and was so successful at training other
greed-stricken folks that he's now out (of prison) hawking his wares as a
sales motivational speaker. Yeah... that's a guy whose worldview I want
to spend THREE HOURS watching!
"Both Scorcese and DiCaprio insist they're not idealizing, glorifying or aggrandizing Belfort and his buddies. [...] Could've fooled me. In fact, it's odd that even when given the chance to prove that statement, the script and direction seem to resist the opportunity. At a point in the story when Chandler's FBI agent could have had a moment of reflective, emotive pride at getting his man, he's instead shown mournfully gazing around the subway on his ride home, comparing his drab existence to that of his flashy nemesis in response to Belfort's earlier jabs. In another scene toward the end, as Belfort rides the bus to his plea-bargained, rat-induced, 22-month jail sentence, we're teased that he's finally facing his comeuppance, feeling the angst of justice, payback for all the devastation he's wrought... only to segue quickly from there to a 'country club' snapshot of him playing jailhouse tennis, right to the concluding scene in which we see a still rich, still slick Belfort motivating a roomful of New Zealand wannabe sales wizards, leaving us with the image of survivor, a man on top of his game in spite of... everything.
"Am I one of those who 'missed the boat,' as DiCaprio suggests? Or, as I said, does Christine McDowell have a point? You'll make up your own mind. Me? I'm going to take a shower, steam some kale, and find three hours to go do something useful for somebody."
"Both Scorcese and DiCaprio insist they're not idealizing, glorifying or aggrandizing Belfort and his buddies. [...] Could've fooled me. In fact, it's odd that even when given the chance to prove that statement, the script and direction seem to resist the opportunity. At a point in the story when Chandler's FBI agent could have had a moment of reflective, emotive pride at getting his man, he's instead shown mournfully gazing around the subway on his ride home, comparing his drab existence to that of his flashy nemesis in response to Belfort's earlier jabs. In another scene toward the end, as Belfort rides the bus to his plea-bargained, rat-induced, 22-month jail sentence, we're teased that he's finally facing his comeuppance, feeling the angst of justice, payback for all the devastation he's wrought... only to segue quickly from there to a 'country club' snapshot of him playing jailhouse tennis, right to the concluding scene in which we see a still rich, still slick Belfort motivating a roomful of New Zealand wannabe sales wizards, leaving us with the image of survivor, a man on top of his game in spite of... everything.
"Am I one of those who 'missed the boat,' as DiCaprio suggests? Or, as I said, does Christine McDowell have a point? You'll make up your own mind. Me? I'm going to take a shower, steam some kale, and find three hours to go do something useful for somebody."
Layman replied at IPS*:
ReplyDelete"This movie was better written, and LESS stupidly aroused by mere gain, than was the novel version of The Great Gatsby."
I replied: It's been a long time since I read the Gatsby novel. But I do recall the more recent movie, again with Leo. And it had a variety of viewpoints from the characters, the narrator of Nick Carraway being a significant one. Nick was drunk with Gatsby's lifestyle and reveled when the latter took an interest in him, even if it was only to reunite with his cousin Daisy. However the story is 'written' by Nick, who remembers it from the vantage of recovering in a sanitarium, thus showing the consequence of living that lifestyle.
The complexity of other character development also showed the consequences of the lifestyle. One was the contrast between Gatsby's world and the valley of ashes between his estate and NYC, where Tom had a mistress. Not only did this depict the stark income inequality inherent to the times but also how the rich could take advantage of the poor for sexual favors. Also the cuckold of Tom's poor mistress ends up killing Gatsby, thinking he killed his wife, another consequence. That it was mistaken identity is ironic, since Gatsby gets his due but for something he didn't do.
So there is a lot more about consequences of the decadent lifestyle in Gatsby given its rich complexity of plot and character not in the Wolf, a story told by a rich asshole entirely from his point of view without such varied and complex interweaving of elements.
* http://integralpostmetaphysics.ning.com/forum/topics/how-i-learned-to-hate-the-mona-lisa?commentId=5301756%3AComment%3A53530