Hits and Misses of Frances Ford Coppola

Hits and Misses of Frances Ford Coppola

Francis Ford Coppola film adaptation of Scott Fitzgerald's Great Gatsby is able to succeed in creating a movie that remains faithful to the original text with out losing the meaning and ability to convey its original message. By doing this he is able to connect with the mind of those who have read the book and make mental connections with the viewer through out the movie. There are times that his direction differed from the mental picture I had but over all his interpretation was really close to mine. One of the ways the Coppola movie was able to tie into my mental movie was by the use of excellent actors like Robert Redford (Gatsby), Mia Farrow (Daisy), Bruce Dern (Tom), Sam Waterson (Nick) who were hired to play the different roles. Few of these characters were able to match perfectly what I imagined but overall they did a really great job.

Sam Waterson does a very good job as Nick Carraway. Just as in the book, Nick doesn’t judge everyone and every thing. He was very standoffish and never became involved in any of the disputes or confrontations. In the opening of the book and the movie Nick says “ My father taught me that whenever you feel the need to criticize someone, just remember that they haven’t had all the opportunities that you have had.” Sam Waterson looks to be a very deep individual, one who would take a statement like that to heart. One of the criticisms I have though is that his voice doesn’t match the tone of the moral speech he makes. I imagined a deeper, more resolute voice. This results in me not believing that he could stand by his convictions over time and therefore losing some of the solidarity that Fitzgerald’s Nick conveyed. Only towards the end of the film did he really stand out on issues and seem to become more independent. This is very accurate to how his character is developed in the novel, from a mere narrator to an actual individual.

Robert Redford made a very dashing and convincing Gatsby in the movie. He portrayed the self-driven, lovesick millionaire very well. The mysteriousness about him made him interesting. Except that sometimes Redford made Gatsby seem to be in love with him-self more than he was in love with Daisy. I know it isn’t his fault that he is handsome but he has a way about him that I didn’t envision in the novel. Maybe it was too many blinding smiles that I found not to be genuine. I saw in Redford’s performance a be-as-it-may attitude that doesn’t fit the character portrayed in the novel. Only once did I feel that Redford hit the nail on the head and that was when he was obsessing about his re-introduction to Daisy. The fuss and paranoia came across perfectly on-screen. I did like the old sport expression that he throws around quite a bit. “Can’t change the past? Of course you can, old sport.” When Redford said the line “Her voice is full of money,” I believe he said it just a Fitzgerald wanted it to be said.

I think that Bruce Dern was badly cast in his part as Tom Buchannon. I believe that Tom should have had a darker hair, a thicker neck, broader shoulders, and a deeper voice. He just didn’t look like the monster that I envisioned. Tom was described as a “hulking brute” but Dern just came off as an uneducated yokel. Tom was a racist, discussing at a dinner party in the beginning of the novel and the film the supremacy of the Nordic race. In the novel as well as in the film he came off as a moron but I just wasn’t as convinced by the film as I was by my own imagination. Tom was also an insufferable hypocrite. He tells his wife that he thinks adultery is wrong, yet he is having an affair himself. Overall, you couldn’t help but dislike Tom but I don’t think that was due to Dern’s portrayal as much as the artistry of Fitzgerald.

Mia Farrow plays Tom’s wife Daisy Buchanan. She represented the old money kind of rich, upper-class woman of the 1920s. She was extremely wealthy and accustomed to being so. It was her materialistic nature that made her refuse to marry Gatsby when he was poor. “Rich girls don't marry poor boys, Jay Gatsby.” Even after Gatsby had amassed his fortune she was not able to accept his advances and leave Tom. East Eggers don’t