The Great Gatsby (1974)

 

The Great Gatsby (1974)

March 14, 2014

When thinking about the question of who played Gatsby better, Robert Redford or Leonardo DiCaprio, I would give the slight edge to DiCaprio.  Robert Redford has been a favorite of mine for years.  I love his smile and the way he can use his body language to convey a message or a feeling.  For an example, when Gatsby was standing outside of Tom and Daisy’s house after the accident and Nick was trying to convince him to leave but Gatsby wanted to stay and make sure Daisy was going to be okay.  Redford didn’t have to say much because his body language told how upset and worried he was. I will admit that Redford’s smile in the beginning when introducing himself to Nick seemed fake but other than that he did justice to Jay Gatsby.

As far as who played Nick better, sorry Tobey Maguire fans, Sam Waterston has the slight edge.  His acting `methods remind me of Redford’s.   Waterston’s body language and facial expressions told the audience how he felt.  On page 154, when Nick was leaving Gatsby’s house, “They’re a rotten crowd,” I shouted across the lawn. “You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together.”  I felt Waterston was showing empathy, just like I felt when reading the book.  Waterston’s acting emphasized the emotion of a friend that wanted to pay a complement to a friend that was down.  Yes, Maguire did a good job with that scene but Waterston made me empathetic to Gatsby.  I have had friends that tried to make me feel better about a situation with the things they say but it was their body language that made it sincere.

 That scene also gives the audience a look at an emotional change from Nick.  Nick was in love with Daisy but changed his mind when seeing how easy it was for Daisy to turn her love on and off.  “They’re a rotten crowd” was aimed at Daisy as well as the friends that only come for the party’s and not for Gatsby.  Nick said he was glad he said that to Gatsby and once again when Waterston walked away, the audience could see this in his action. 

When I googled life lessons learned, I found this quote, “I’ve never fooled anyone. I’ve let people fool themselves. They didn’t bother to find out who and what I was. Instead they would invent a character for me. I wouldn’t argue with them. They were obviously loving somebody I wasn’t” Marilyn Monroe.  I not only thought how this reminded me of Jay Gatsby but also of Nick.  Gatsby had the party people that didn’t know him but Daisy didn’t know who or what he was.  Nick also had showed his true self in the end and it wasn’t the same person that was first introduced to Daisy.  Which character reminds you of Marilyn Monroe’s quote?