the great gatsby: redford vs. dicaprio smackdown

Baz Luhrmann's version of The Great Gatsby is brash and loud and colorful, compared to the pastel-hued tones of Jack Clayton's 1974 version. But is it a better film? Yes and no. The real take-away as the credits began to roll was that F. Scott Fitzgerald's timeless tale had proved, once again, to be, while not exactly un-filmable, at least as elusive to capture as Gatsby's dream of a future life with Daisy proved to be.

Leonardo DiCaprio was effective and impressive as Jay Gatsby, the self-made (and re-made) man, a dreamer who wants to go back in time with the love of his life, Daisy Buchanan. DiCaprio was able to convey how much he cared for Daisy, and how deeply his small-town origins still hung about him, no matter how hard he tried to escape them. In 1974 Robert Redford captured the Gatsby facade, and wore the clothes (designer Theoni V. Aldredge won the Best Costume Oscar, but Ralph Lauren did the men's suits) with more ease and authority. Redford even made the phrase "old sport" sound almost natural and seemed more convincingly menacing as a man who may have been hiding some dark secrets. But DiCaprio was able to take the character to a more emotional place.

He wore it well: Robert Redford in one of Ralph Lauren's linen suits

Gatsby, looking good poolside

What really rankled in the 2013 version was how the women in the story all seemed to be relegated to the background. Daisy may have been Gatsby's focus and the impetus for all of his character's actions, but as played by Carey Mulligan she was just a bland, soft-voiced, Southern-drawling cipher. Luhrmann didn't even acknowledge Daisy's lack of mothering skills — until the last few moments of the film the audience, unless they were acquainted with the book or earlier film version, would hardly know she even has a child. As miscast as Mia Farrow might have been in the 1974 version, she at least was front and center throughout the story. Her Daisy was flighty and selfish and rather unlikable. Probably a litte too unlikable. But Daisy Buchanan, as Fitzgerald wrote her, is not, ultimately, a great person. Luhrmann tried to soft-pedal some of his heroine's faults at the end, which should annoy fans of the novel. Daisy also was dressed in impractical, busy summer frocks, designed by Catherine Martin (who is married to Luhrmann), and an unattractive bleach blond bob.

We have come to expect the character of Daisy to be un-castable, but there is no excuse for how poorly Jordan Baker and Myrtle Wilson were represented in this latest film version. Elizabeth Debicki started off promisingly as Jordan Baker, Daisy's professional golfer best friend, but then practically disappeared from the action, as Luhrmann chose to focus on narrator Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) and Gatsby and Daisy. What happened to Nick and Jordan's romance, or Jordan's witty, wicked sense of humor? What happened to Fitzgerald's interesting, multifacted female characters? Gone.

And unless the viewer is paying strict attention, it is possible that Tom Buchanan's (Joel Edgerton) lover, Myrtle Wilson (Isla Fisher) might be completely missed. With Luhrmann's frenetic pacing of certain scenes it's altogether likely that not only would one not catch Myrtle's name, but also not realize at first that she was the person who tried to flag down Gatsby's yellow car as it whizzed by in a penultimate scene of the movie.

Daisy's husband Tom is a jerk and a racist and a bigot, but he actually does care for Myrtle. Their relationship in both the book and the 1974 filmed version is portrayed as something far beyond casual. Joel Edgerton tried hard to fill in the blanks left in Luhrmann's script. Bruce Dern may have been a strange casting choice as the rich, Old Money, hunky, athletic Tom in 1974, but he very ably portrayed the boor's love of both of his women, Daisy and Myrtle.

That's a lot of lace and flounces for a summer frock

Leo, as Gatsby, raises his glass in a welcoming toast

Quick takes, 1974:

The screenplay/adaptation was by Francis Ford Coppola (!)

The scene where Nick has dinner with Daisy and Tom and Jordan: we see Daisy get jealous of Tom taking Myrtle's phone call — she is definitely hurt, and we feel that she really loves him.

The close-up camerawork was a little disconcerting.

Extra scenes showing Gatsby and Daisy's affair once they become reacquainted make us believe that their love may have a chance.

The scene with Gatsby showing his shirts to impress Daisy really works, as does the scene featuring Gatsby's final swim in his pool.

Quick takes, 2013:

A real stand-out scene is the final confrontation at the Plaza Hotel, where DiCaprio lets Gatsby (finally) lose his cool.

The tea that Gatsby arranges at Nick's to (re)meet Daisy, with Gatsby over-filling his small cottage with flowers and cakes, his nervous anticipation and awe at seeing the love of his life after five years, is both funny and poignant to watch.

The first over-the-top party that Nick attends at Gatsby's is everything Luhrmann is known for — visual opulence, hip music, frenetic camerawork — and it's great fun to watch. Unfortunately the rest of the film can't quite keep up the pace.

Tobey Maguire's Nick Carraway was even more removed and diffident than Fitzgerald's. Not many could attend a drug and alcohol-fueled orgy and still remain uninvolved, but somehow he pulled it off. Luhrmann's framing device of having an alcoholic Carraway narrate the film from a sanitarium as he writes the story didn't quite work, either.

The hip-hop music used to "update" this Gatsby actually worked quite well, but like many of the other design elements, seemed to lessen or disappear as the film progressed. Why not truly update the story to modern times instead of keeping it in the '20s? That may have held this film back from being a truly modern version.

Mia Farrow and Robert Redford as Daisy and Gatsby

L-R: Nick, Gatsby, Daisy and Tom (Tobey Maguire, Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan and Joel Edgerton)

As much as this latest version of The Great Gatsby didn't quite live up to my expectations — its vaunted excess actually seemed to peter out about halfway through the film into straight melodrama — it's hard not to admire both Luhrmann's ambition and aspiration to film such a complex literary classic. When most multiplex movie fare involves superheroes who battle endless CGI explosions, or the latest entry in a franchise that features cars driving really, really fast, a film that ends with some of the most evocative words in American literature is something to applaud:

“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”

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something to believe in — game of thrones

It is getting harder for readers of George R.R. Martin's epic Song of Ice and Fire series to watch events unfold on HBO's third season of Game of Thrones. Will this be the episode where ... well, I don't want to spoil it for you. But the show had upped the ante so much already, by building up some of the books' more minor characters, like Margaery Tyrell (Natalie Dormer) and Gendry, that even a well-versed fan can't help but hope that something might go a little differently, a little better, a little less deadly for some of their beloved characters. And maybe a little more deadly for others.

As much as the show's creators have taken liberties with the original text, it is clear that this season, with only two episodes left to go, is building toward a bang-up conclusion. Fans of the books know that there is still so much more to come. Last night's episode, "Second Sons," moved around the Seven Kingdoms and beyond, catching up with various characters, while testing each one's faith and resolve. It opened with Arya (Maisie Williams) and The Hound. She has sworn to kill him (and all of her enemies), believing him to be a ruthless, unrepentant villain, but he surprised her many times over, by calmly telling her that he was not taking her back to Joffrey as a prisoner as she assumed, but to her mother and Robb, and that he had saved Sansa from being raped. Arya has been living so long praying for the death of the Hound and others who have wronged her and her family that her belief system was shaken to the core.

The happy couple on their special day

Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) met the Second Sons — possible adversaries or allies. One particularly disrespectful and nasty warrior was just begging to be killed. His very handsome partner, Daario Naharis (Ed Skrein), made that dream a reality and Daenerys gained a new army and an ardent admirer. Does he believe in her power as a leader, as a beautiful woman, or her dragons? Maybe all three.

Witchy woman Melisandre brought lamb to the slaughter Gendry back with her to Dragonstone. Ser Davos tried to convince Stannis not to "sacrifice" his nephew. "I think mothers and fathers made up the gods because they wanted their children to sleep through the night." But Stannis, at least at present, still believes in Melisandre's Lord of Light. He did, however want to release Davos from his prison cell. Melisandre has her own plans. First up was climbing on top of not-so-little lamb Gendry. King's blood in the fire. But will they use him as a source for dark magic, or will he go out in a blaze of glory?

The highlight of the episode was Sansa and Tyrion's (Peter Dinklage) wedding. Brocade and leather abounded. Everyone was up in arms. Angry and jealous Shae. Nasty Joffrey, who gave the bride away ("Your father's dead.") Hateful Cersei, who shrugged off Margaery's attempt at friendship ("If you ever call me sister again I'll have you strangled in your sleep.") Dopey Sansa, who had to be told to kneel down so that Tyrion could put a wedding cloak upon her back. Tyrion told Sansa to drink up, but who could keep up with him? Tywin (Charles Dance), for once, seemed protective of his youngest son, telling a furious Joffrey to back off when Tyrion said something insulting to the young king. Tyrion and Sansa's wedding night was just as it was on paper, but I couldn't help but wish it had gone a little differently, that Sansa could at least understand that her husband is a kind man. She's just been too beaten down by the Lannisters to trust any of them. She can't believe in him or anyone.

The final scene was a good one. Sam and Gilly and the baby, who stil has no name, found themselves in the middle of a cold wood, in a deserted cabin, trying to start a fire. The sense of dread mounted as crows gathered and cawed above them, filling the trees outside. A white walker, coming for the baby, broke Sam's sword as if it was nothing. Sam was thrown, and then jumped up to protect Gilly and the baby, with his dragon stone (obsidian) dagger to destroy the monster. Whew.

Keep it coming, Game of Thrones, keep it coming.

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