 "The Wolf of Wall Street")
There is no nobility in poverty", a young and ambitious Bud Fox, played by Charlie Sheen, tells Gordon Gekko, the symbolic 'evil' Wall Street trader so memorably essayed by Michael Douglas in the 1987 Oliver Stone film, Wall Street. If "greed is good" was the line immortalised by Gekko, this may well have been the Fox dialogue that endured. Three decades on, that line is now repeated by Jordan Belfort, the aggressive young stockbroker who becomes a millionaire in his 20s and is the protagonist of The Wolf of Wall Street, Martin Scorsese's much-anticipated latest film starring Leonardo DiCaprio.
The films do share similarities. The milieu is the same, after all - the high-adrenaline, fist-pumping, foul-mouthed trading floors of broking houses and the protagonists in both are hungry young men eager to get rich quick and escape their families' fate of remaining consigned to the dreary middle-class. But they are also two very different films, with Wall Street taking a more black-and-white route while Scorsese's has moral ambiguities and a protagonist you would be hard put to sympathise with, though he will make you laugh.
Scorsese's film is based on a memoir by Belfort, and follows the broker's life and career at the firm he founded, Stratton Oakmont, which peddles penny stocks to ignorant investors, earning the firm several millions in the process. And all before its founder turned 30. Since its Christmas day release in the US, the film has attracted considerable attention, not least for its shock value which has reportedly been toned down by the censor board in India at least as far as nudity is concerned (in consideration of our more delicate sensibilities). But the rest of the drugs, debauchery and depravity is intact.
The tone is set right in the opening sequence, where we are witness to a contest between employees on the firm's floor to see who can hurl a midget most accurately and make him hit the bullseye, termed "dwarf-tossing", followed by a female employee agreeing to get her head shaved in public so that she can get $10,000 for breast implants, an announcement greeted by wild cheers from the audience. These are just two of the many incredulous antics DiCaprio and his crew get up to, including bizarre accidents involving his Lamborghini, helicopter and yacht on various occasions. And then there is the snorting of cocaine and popping of Quaaludes, or ludes, so frequent to almost make it mundane. "Jerking off and cocaine", a fresh-faced DiCaprio is told by the veteran broker Mark Hanna (Matthew McConaughey), "are the only ways to survive as a broker on Wall Street", and DiCaprio takes the latter's recommendation to heart. In the process, one could legitimately come away with the feeling that Scorsese may have gone overboard, but many of these incidents are reportedly drawn from real life.
It is not long before Stratton Oakmont's phenomenal success attracts the scrutiny of the Securities and Exchange Commission, followed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Enter nemesis in the form of agent Patrick Denham (Kyle Chandler), the upright officer hot on the trail of Belfort, who in keeping with his swagger and perhaps also as a sign of naivete arising from his youth, even tries to bribe him. Belfort then does his best to evade arrest and stow away his millions, and his efforts are as audacious as they are entertaining. But the denouement is only a matter of time, though when it comes, it does not have the blatant 'good triumphs over evil' you get in Wall Street. The redemption is not on expected lines and this, along with the various excesses, has led to criticism from certain quarters provoking DiCaprio to mount a defence that this was by no means a justification of greed and Scorsese deliberately chose not to judge Belfort. But in fact, by choosing to recount the story of Belfort (now a successful motivational speaker and author), Scorsese may have given us a more accurate version of reality. After all, despite Lehman going under, the Occupy Wall Street movement and the dogged efforts of individuals like Preet Bharara, one could argue that not much has changed on Wall Street.
At close to three hours, the film is much longer than your average Hollywood fare but the rollercoaster ride Scorsese takes you on ensures that it is not tedious. While the casting is more or less flawless, the movie without doubt belongs to DiCaprio, who is superb as the cocky young stock broker who makes it big beyond his wildest dreams, before it all comes crashing down. This is the 39-year-old actor's fifth collaboration with Scorsese, after Shutter Island, The Departed, Gangs of New York and The Aviator, and the team delivers again. The film is an obvious contender for the Oscars in several categories and the Academy will perhaps finally deign to recognise DiCaprio's incredible skills as an actor (he has been nominated thrice, previously). Since the film depicts the testosterone-soaked world of Wall Street, it is not entirely surprising that women don't have much of a role in the film, with the principal female characters being Belfort's first wife and the younger, sexier version she is dumped for.
In an interview with the late critic Roger Ebert after the release of Scorsese's Age of Innocence, the two had discussed subtlety, or the lack of it in many films. Scorsese said he has been accused of 'losing the colour and beauty of language and communication' though Ebert felt he displayed a light touch in that particular movie. The filmmaker's latest, of course, is a no-holds barred portrayal of the zenith, nadir and everything in between of Belfort's life in. Be prepared to be shocked and entertained but don't expect a morality tale. And by not treading the easy path, Scorsese only makes the film richer.
