Apart from the question of whether or not Ben Affleck has what it takes to play Batman, perhaps the most hotly contested movie-related question of 2013 stemmed from Wolf Of Wall Street—did the movie condemn the outrageous behaviour of Wall Street swindler Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio), or endorse it?
In the new Hollywood Reporter, Belfort says that the movie’s position is crystal clear: The movie is an obvious condemnation of Jordan Belfort.
And that’s just fine with Belfort. The charismatic scam artist concedes that his behaviour between 1990 and 1998 was awful, and should be condemned.
“It’s laughable when people say [Scorsese is] glorifying my behaviour, because the movie is so obviously an indictment,”; Belfort says. “I could have easily been redeemed at the end of the film, because I am redeemed in real life, but [Scorsese] left all that out because he wanted to make a statement—and I respect that. Even though I’ll be the whipping boy for the world.”;
Like most film critics, Belfort’s reaction to the film was overwhelmingly positive. He did, however, have a few minor quibbles. For instance, Belfort is quick to point out that the scene where he punches his wife in the stomach was an exaggeration. In reality, she had tried to grab onto his leg, and he kicked her.
“When I saw [the finished film], I was overwhelmed. I loved it, but it was almost sensory overload. I saw it twice and then my ex-wife and I took my son,”; he says. “There were a lot of scenes that I wanted to make sure he understood. It was important because my son’s a lot like me. I wanted to make sure he knows what my life is like now. It was fictionalized at the end: I never punched my wife in the stomach. It was more of a struggle where she grabbed onto my leg and I kicked out. I was out of my mind. I was at the lowest point of my life. I’m not trying to minimize it; it was awful what I did. But it was under the [influence] of massive quantities of drugs.”;
To read the full interview, click here.
