This version of THE GREAT GATSBY has its share of detractors, and possibly for good reason: the narrative crawls along at a snail's pace, while the period atmosphere, although lovingly evoked by designer John Box, appears strangely false. Everything is just too shiny, even the interior of the Plaza Hotel, where Gatsby (Robert Redford) and Tom (Bruce Dern) have their climactic confrontation. On the other hand Jack Clayton's adaptation offers several visual pleasures - for example his use of symbolism. There are numerous shots of birds flying away, except for one sequence, where Nick (Sam Waterston) discovers a dead seagull on the seashore near his home. This reminds us of how the protagonists - especially Gatsby and Daisy (Mia Farrow) - are imprisoned by their existences. They might have money, but they cannot fly off like the birds into a new life. The film also includes several shots of Gatsby and Daisy reflected in mirrors, or in the water of the outdoor pool at Gatsby's mansion, drawing attention to the doomed nature of their affair. It is as if they cannot endure the idea of face-to-face contact; when they do get close, they seem ill-at-ease, despite their protestations of love. While Gatsby believes that the past can be recreated, Clayton's film proves otherwise. Redford is strangely muted as Gatsby; he certainly looks the past, especially when photographed alone standing on the jetty against the early evening sky, but he seems reluctant to show Gatsby's passionate nature lurking beneath the civilized veneer. Bruce Dern is quite outstanding as Tom - a thoroughly odious person with scant regard for anyone else's feelings, especially those of his wife. Waterston's Nick acts as the narrator for the entire piece; his delivery of the book's final lines in voice-over is incredibly moving, especially when he contrasts Gatsby's naive hope for the future with Daisy and Tom's "carelessness" (Fitzgerald's phrase). This GATSBY is definitely worth watching as an example of Clayton's meticulously precise style of filmmaking.
Review of The Great Gatsby
