The Wolf of Wall Street (2013): What Really Happened to the Hero of Leonardo DiCaprio? the meaning of the film, plot summary, explanation of the ending and title, similar films.
Genre: drama, crime, biography
Year of production: 2013
Directed by: Martin Scorsese
Actors: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie
tagline: Earn. Spend. Celebrate
Awards and nominations: In 2014, the film was nominated 5 times for the Oscar.
Martin Scorsese, who makes tough and fairly honest films, told the audience the story of the rapid success of modern man. The point of The Wolf of Wall Street is that you shouldn’t run after big money – otherwise you can easily fall into the abyss of madness.
What is the movie about
Brief description of the content of the film “The Wolf of Wall Street”. 1987, USA. Aspiring young Jordan Belfort takes a job at a successful investment bank as a trainee broker.
Leonardo DiCaprio played the role of Jordan Belfort. Frame from the film.
With the boss, Mark Hanna, he develops a fairly easy relationship. In particular, he, confident that without thrills, life does not make sense, advises him to come off to the fullest – have more sex and discover drugs. Only in this way, according to Khann, can the risk of professional burnout be prevented, because investment activity takes a lot of vital resources.
Jordan’s revelations from his superiors are somewhat shocking. He cannot yet begin to debauchery, because not only work takes all his time – he is preparing to take an exam.
The young man does not rejoice for long at the successful passing of the exam, which took place exactly on “Black Monday” – on the same day the Dow Jones index suddenly collapses and Belfort becomes unemployed.
His wife Teresa advises Jordan to get a job in a small company that deals with small stocks. He does just that and soon, thanks to his efficiency and charm, he begins to make progress.
Soon the young man realizes that he wants more. Fate brings him together with Donnie, who sells children’s furniture. They manage to find a common language and soon Jordan persuades a friend to also engage in stocks. Together they open their own company.
They recruit employees from among their acquaintances. All of them, like Jordan and Donnie, have passion, good business acumen and a desire to “make money”. Soon, Jordan’s firm begins to earn really big money, but Teresa hints to him that there is no point in staying at the same level – you need to move on. Agreeing with his wife, Jordan rents an office on Wall Street and names his company “Stratton Oakmont”.
The role of Donnie Azoff was played by Jonah Hill. Frame from the film.
Fate is favorable to Belfort – his company is flourishing. Soon he remembers the advice of his former boss and decides to organize a vacation for employees. With music, prostitutes and drugs. He understands that he likes both what he does and the new way of life.
True, he does not work quite honestly. In particular, his firm imposes “junk stocks” on small investors. This becomes known to the publishing house of Forbes magazine: in one of the articles, Belfort is called the “Wolf of Wall Street”. Jordan becomes furious – the journalist described the principle of his company’s work too accurately. However, exposure not only does not harm him, but on the contrary, attracts the attention of promising brokers who want to cooperate with him.
Success turns Belfort’s head, and he indulges in all serious – leads a promiscuous sex life, drinks a lot and uses several types of drugs. Teresa does not like this and their relationship begins to deteriorate. However, Jordan is not very worried about this – after all, the whole world lies at his feet, and the beautiful supermodel Naomi pays attention to him. Belfort plunges headlong into the new novel, and Teresa decides to leave him. Jordan asks Naomi to marry him and after a while they have a daughter. Meanwhile, Belfort gets the attention of the FBI. In particular, the Bureau is interested in the history of his rapid enrichment. Agent Patrick Denem is assigned to follow the broker.
He notices the fuss around him and comes up with a daring idea to hide the money he earned as a result of the last transaction. To do this, Jordan opens a Swiss bank account in the name of Naomi’s aunt Emma. Using her help and the assistance of partners with European passports, he is trying to transport money to Switzerland. Suddenly, Belfort is hit by a hindrance in the form of Donnie, and his scam is exposed…
The Wolf of Wall Street Ending explanation
The explanation for the ending of the picture is quite simple. Towards the end of the film, Jordan realizes that he faces a prison, but nevertheless decides to remain as director of the company. Two years later, while filming a commercial, Agent Denham arrests Belfort. Realizing that he will not be able to get out, the “Wolf of Wall Street” decides to help the feds collect evidence against their former colleagues. At the same time, Naomi, frightened by her husband’s difficult emotional state and his financial distress, files for divorce.
The next day, Belfort is put on an eavesdropping microphone. After that, he meets with Donnie, having warned him in advance with a note. After that, Danem, who found out about everything, puts Jordan in custody for violating their conditions. He faces 20 years in prison, and Belfort, having broken down, agrees to cooperate. After that, the feds raid his company, and Jordan himself goes to prison for 3 years.
The point of The Wolf of Wall Street’s ending is that the FBI has fulfilled its end of the bargain. After being released from prison, a drug-free Jordan began teaching seminars on the art of the trade and wrote a book. About whether his conscience tormented him after the betrayal, he did not spread to anyone.
Margot Robbie reprized the role of Naomi. Frame from the film.
The meaning of the name The Wolf of Wall Street
The name of the picture hides its hidden meaning. Wall Street is a small street. It is located in the lower part of Manhattan (New York). Many call it the historical center of the city. Its main attraction is the New York Stock Exchange, which (like the entire area) is often referred to by the name of the street.
Like the vast majority of brokers around him, Wall Street-based Jordan Belfort was a brilliant schemer and liar. He was misleading his clients and extorting money from them.
The key to the broker’s success lies on the surface. The idea to rob customers was thrown to Jordan by his first boss, Mark Hanna. To obtain benefits, Belfort went to all sorts of tricks – he masterfully bluffed and resorted to psychological blackmail.
It would seem that this is not so much even about a success story, but about making the “American dream” a reality. This is partly true, but the essence of the film lies elsewhere. The fact that a good guy sold his soul to the devil and turned into a real bastard.
Jordan became a predator, a wolf, always hungry and angry. Deceiving people became easy and pleasant for him, and he did not even notice how far he had gone. He was sincerely convinced that absolutely everything was bought and sold, and was confident that he could get his hands on the most honest FBI agent. However, “no matter how much the rope twists, but the end is one.” The wolf jumped over the flags and paid for it with freedom, friends, family and name.
Ted Griffin starred as Agent Hughes, Kyle Chandler as Agent Patrick Denham. Frame from the film.
The meaning of the film The Wolf of Wall Street
The plot of the film is based on the autobiographical book of the same name by Jordan Belfort. In 1989, he created a large brokerage house, but 10 years later he went to prison for numerous financial crimes.
In assessing this picture, critics were divided into two camps. Some in their analysis consider it Scorsese’s best work, others believe that this time the director did not shoot anything worthwhile. However, they all agree on one thing: The Wolf of Wall Street is a juicy and poignantly satirical exploration of the values and vices of the modern world. The audience liked this tape. However, many admitted that it was unpleasant for them to follow the adventures of such a cynical hero.
Martin Scorsese often takes real stories into his work. And yet this work of his can be called special. The uniqueness of The Wolf of Wall Street lies in the fact that Belfort described not only his own path, but also the feelings that caused his own dangerous adventures. The primary source contains the imprint of his thoughts at the time of concluding a deal with conscience, which ultimately led to betrayal. Moreover, he betrayed not only colleagues and friends, but also himself.
Once Belfort gave a big interview on TV, in which he gave his interpretation of everything that happened. According to him, he is not a criminal, but rather a victim of circumstances, because he was not going to break the law. All he wanted was to make good money and earn as honestly as possible.
In principle, Jordan admitted that it is possible to cross the border a couple of times – and there is nothing to worry about. He apparently did not know that, crossing the line of what is permitted, a person becomes one step further from his former self and closer to a new, monstrous image.
After all, a perfect bad deed soon ceases to seem so and becomes the norm. Herein lies the danger of crossing the line: you can lie to yourself as much as you want that you haven’t reached it. However, nothing can be changed.
Frame from the film.
Gradually, Jordan got richer. Was he fed up? Not at all – now he wanted to be “the mistress of the sea.” However, he still saw the boundary of morality – that is, it seemed to him so. Probably Belfort did not even realize that if he stopped and turned back, he would see that she was left far behind …
Making a deal with conscience, a person usually downplays the significance of his actions. Belfort thought that he could overstep morality, or deceive it with the help of money, alcohol and drugs. But conscience cannot be deceived. According to Martin Scorsese himself, his picture tells exactly this.
Often a person does not realize that he has committed self-betrayal. He does things every day, both good and bad. At the same time, he actively shifts the border of morality both in one direction and in the other. First, a person becomes stronger and nobler, and then more miserable and weaker than before. In any case, it will never be the same again.
Martin Scorsese made a warning film: do not make a deal with your conscience, because it will definitely end badly. The point is that if a person constantly bends and yields, one day the conditional “Mr. Hyde” will wake up in him and this terrible mask will remain with him forever. That is, he will become a perverted shadow of himself.
The Wolf of Wall Street is not a biopic. To a greater extent, this is a movie about a man who succumbed to his personal demons and embarked on the wrong path. It is also a story about the temptation of wealth and power and redemption. According to Scorsese himself, he made a movie not about scammers, but about what is in every person – more precisely, about what is hidden inside us and is waiting for the right moment to get out.
Frame from the film.
Similar films
Here are a few films similar in meaning to the movie “The Wolf of Wall Street”:
- “Cocaine” (USA, 2001). Obsessed with the “American dream”, the young man George Jung creates a market for cocaine and “hooks” on the drug the most famous people in the United States.
- “Game for a fall” (USA, 2015). Investment fund managers run fraudulent schemes to profit from ordinary people.
- “Casino” (USA, France, 1995). Sam Rothstin knows how to make good money. And he also knows how to get along with mafia thugs …
- “Wall Street” (USA, 1987). Young broker Bud Fox wants to become the best in his business. Trying to achieve more and more, he literally goes over the heads.
