Here it is: from the 1974 movie version of The Great Gatsby, the tea party scene, culminating in a bizarro flurry of fancy European shirts! This movie version stars the dashing Robert Redford as Gatsby, the doe-eyed Mia Farrow as Daisy, and the eventual-Manhattan-D.A.-on-Law-and-Order Sam Waterston as Nick.
Take a look, and, if you want a couple of extra credit points for English, respond below with your critique. What works or doesn't work about the scene, as compared with the text version presented in Chapter 5? Include specific details--maybe even a quotation?
Well, what does not work is how the houses are right next door, instead of right across the water. In the text, it says, West Egg and East Egg. That does not really match up. I did not really understand who the people were after Wilson was calling for Myrtle. I did not really understand some people were, only Daisy, Nick, and Gatsby and maybe Tom, I think. What matches up from this and the text is how he throws the shirts. In the text, Fitzgerald writes, "He took out a pile of shirts and began throwing them, one by one, before us, shirts of sheer linen and thick silk and fine flannel....Suddenly, with a strained sound, Daisy bent her head into the shirts and began to cry stormily." The reason for Daisy crying is because she is realizing that she could have had this and she deserves this. She deserves clothing from England.
ReplyDeleteI think Robert Redford played a great Gatsby, in the tea scene he was equally awkward as the book describes him. I thought the scene played along very well with the book, it was almost as if they were reading the lines straight from the chapter. Especially when they leave Nick's house and go straight to Gatsby's, Daisy "I love it, but I dont see how you live there all alone", Gatsby "I keep it always full of interesting people, night and day." The only thing that I believe did not match up was that weren't they suppose to gaze out his window and see Daisy's house with the dock? It seemed when they were looking out the window they weren't really looking at anything specific. Besides that when Klipspringer plays the piano he plays it right before they go upstairs when in the chapter he plays the piano right after Gatsby throws all his shirts on the ground and Daisy looks out the window.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Marissa that Redford did portray a great Gatsby, and I think that the other characters were just as well matched. There were some things that I felt could have been a little better with the seen. For instance, Nick's grass doesn't look as well kept as it is described in the book, and it didn't seem that it had been raining except for water coming down the drain pipe of Nick's house. I would have expected Gatsby's house to look a little more colorful, and instead of just walking across the lawn to get to his house, they were suppose to take the long way so Daisy could see the entire grounds. Gatsby also makes no remark of how Daisy's house can be seen right across the Sound, and instead of Gatsby saying, "Here's a lot of clippings - about you," Daisy just picks up the scrapbook and notices that all the pictures were of herself. Other than those examples, I thought that the scene did a good job of showing the character's emotions and the way in which they carry themselves.
ReplyDeleteAt first i was confused with who was who during the movie, but then it all came in. I think the film did a good job matching each character to ho they were in the book, Gatsby is a rich man in a huge house who's relationship with Daisy seems to be as it is in the book. It also shows how Daisy really wants to be with Gatsby wanting all the money, shown in the scene where he shows off his clothing. The film also does a good job with Mr Wilson owning a Gas station, that matched well with the film. Also, Tom and Jordan seemed to be flirting a little, which i also could see in the book.
ReplyDeleteOverall, i think the film and the book seem pretty close to being matched well in a good way, i was able to follow the film pretty easily and that shows how good of a job they did.
For the beginning part where Gatsby and Daisy meet for the first in a long time, I think it doesn't work to cut Gatsby's little burst of anxiety talking to Nick in the kitchen. "He followed me wildly into the kitchen, closed the door, and whispered: 'Oh, God!' in a miserable way" (Fitzgerald) really showed Gatsby's true stature at the time. But in the movie version, Gatsby's stature seems to be confident, bold, and completely happy. It made the whole tea party at Nick's house seem insignificant as a static Gatsby is only shown.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, I think that the switch-up in the movie with Klipspringer playing piano while the group goes upstairs somewhat ruined the ending of the gathering's idea. It felt like the text version, with the setup of Gatsby and Daisy on a couch in a dim lit room with Klipspringer playing music on the other side was a better suited ending to the gathering. "He lit Daisy's cigarette from a trembling match, and sad down with her on a couch far across the room, where there was no light save what the gleaming floor bounced in from the hall" (Fitzgerald). This version felt a lot more mysterious and easier to close out with in correlation with the scene's earlier passages. The film version, again, changes this up into what appears to be a completely joyous happy end. For the film, if the rest of it continued with the idea of complete joy, it would work. However, basing the video off of the text, I don't think it works because the changes remove moments that set an uncertain mood as Gatsby himself is portrayed to change in the book.
I think that the film did a pretty good job at capturing what went on during the text. Realistically, not absolutely everything can be fit into a movie due to time constraints. As Christian said, Gatsby's nervousness was cut, but the scene was still able to capture the effect of the text. The actors were very good selections, looking very much like how I had pictured them.
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