Delusive Romance (PART 1 OF 3)
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Rejuvenated with floral aroma,
scents and fresh Spring air!
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From: denman@infoseek.jp
To: diane705@yahoo.ca
cc: barclay1720@aol.com
Date: Thurs., April 10, 2014 5:42AM
Pacific Daylight Saving Time
Hi Diane,
How are you doing?
We've got a nice sunny Spring day, haven't we?
I really enjoyed walking to the central library this morning while watching tiny pink flowers on Haro Street.
Rejuvenated with floral aroma, scents and fresh Spring air, I've just finished writing an article just for you.
It is called "Another Cinderella."
Please click the following link:
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■"Another Cinderella"
I hope you'll enjoy the above article!
In any case, I came up with another DVD and viewed "The Great Gatsby."
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As you know, Diane, the original story was written in 1925 by the world famous writer---F. Scott Fitzgerald.
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This one is a quite old novel, but I've heard its title so many times since my high school days in Japan.
I certainly know that there are at least seven adaptations:
•The Great Gatsby (1926 film), a silent film starring Warner Baxter and Lois Wilson
•The Great Gatsby (1949 film), starring Alan Ladd and Betty Field
•The Great Gatsby (1955), "Robert Montgomery Presents" television episode starring Robert Montgomery and Phyllis Kirk
•The Great Gatsby (1974 film), starring Robert Redford and Mia Farrow
•The Great Gatsby (opera), a 1999 opera composed by John Harbison
•The Great Gatsby (2000 film), a TV film starring Toby Stephens, Mira Sorvino and Paul Rudd
•The Great Gatsby (2013 film), a Baz Luhrmann film starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire and Carey Mulligan
How come I haven't seen any of the above?
...probably because the novel is too famous.
F. Scott Fitzgerald is a big name and I don't like big names, which usually give me an impression of difficulty in understanding the writers and their works.
At the moment, 106 people are waiting for the DVD, thought there are 79 copies at VPL.
In any case, I viewed the 2013 film.
So I jotted down the following comment:
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Although the film received mixed reviews from critics, a granddaughter of Fitzgerald praised the style and music of the film.
One critic says that the film emphasizes visual splendor at the expense of its source material's vibrant heart.
Another says that the elaborate production designs were a misfire and what was "intractably wrong with the film is that there's no reality to heighten; it's a spectacle in search of a soul."
Yet another says that Baz Luhrmann (co-writer & director) is exactly the wrong person to adapt such a delicately rendered story, and his film plays like a ghastly roaring 1920s blowout at a sorority house.
However, I think that the film is fascinating, involving and thrilling.
The actors' performances are so excellent, convincing, emotionally-charged and tension-filled that I could thoroughly enjoy it.
Especially, Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby and Joel Edgerton as Tom Buchanan are both doing an excellent job of showing those two unique characters.
The title ("The Great Gatsby"), however, is misleading because Gatsby is not great at all.
Gatsby is rather an antihero who stubbornly runs after Daisy without a rational mind.
And Daisy is such a weak-minded---if not feeble-minded---girl who doesn't know what she really wants that she abandons Gatsby at the most critical moment.
In other words Gatsby fell in love with the wrong girl.
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He shouldn't try to re-live the past glory.
In this sense Nick Carraway is absolutely right on and says to Gatsby, "You can't repeat the past."
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In any case, this is a fascinating and thought-provoking drama.
SOURCE: "The Great Gatsby"
Vancouver Public Library Catalogue
I really like it!
Diane, have you viewed one of those adaptations?
Reading other comments, I gather that the 1974 film seems better than the 2013 version.
Anyway, what do you think about it?
Your smiling Bohemian, Kato
with a lot of love
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So, Kato, you enjoyed watching the Great Gutsby movie, huh?
You're telling me, Diane. I enjoyed it to the hilt. Have you ever seen the film?
I'm afraid not, but it seems quite fascinating. I must look at the film one day soon.
I know you'll be greatly and highly moved by the emotionally-charged acting.
What makes you think so?
Well ... I happened to read the following e-mail last night.
(To be followed)