in where I can't exactly remember, Dickie and Freddie were listening to jazz, Dickie told Tom they (Dickie and Freddie, that is) were going somewhere later but didn't exactly invite Tom, mostly sent him on his way under the name "sightseeing".
Was that simply because Dickie was kind of getting sick of Tom at that point or did it have another meaning?
>> there. i said it. <<
I don't think he was getting sick of him at this point, maybe more that wherever Dickie and Freddie were going hadn't invited Tom or they felt it wouldn't be Tom's scene - Dickie's possibly one of those people whos personality and behaviour changes depending on who they're with. I've visited local friends when they've been away at university and they've been like different people when their fellow student pals are around, so it does happen. Freddie's presence brought out a side to Dickie that Tom maybe hadn't seen before.
Problem is, until a few seconds before Freddie arrives, Tom's under the impression that it'll just be the two of them in Rome for the day, shopping and sightseeing. This sudden announcement that they'll be with someone else all day, followed almost instantly by Freddie's arrival, immediate display of almost unmasked contempt for Tom (first thing he says is "think what her husband's saying"), and Dickie's instantly taking off with Freddie - the way they briskly walk off while Tom's still sat at the table a metaphor for him being abandoned.
This understandably causes Tom to be quite visibly p**sed off, but the bigger problem for Tom is that it's the first time he lets his emotions take over and loses the calculated facade he's been putting on so far - if he really was as into jazz as he'd made out, he'd have been in his element in the store and joining them in the listening booth, or be in one of his own. Instead he stands away from them looking annoyed. This may be the first indication to Dickie that Tom had been faking the jazz thing in order to get in with him.
After this (and sending him away to wander Rome by himself), Dickie then doesn't turn up for the train, causing Tom to make his own way back, so arguably abandons Tom at least twice that day. So Tom's got every right to be annoyed with Dickie over this but can't be because of the living arrangement they have, and Dickie knows this.
The films ambiguous all the way through, like Dicky will interrogate Tom with slight distain and then in the next breath be chuckling and slapping Toms Knee. Or at the end when Father Greenleaf leaves Tom with P.I and acts like the jig is up then he actually gets away with everything.
One bit i haven't seen brought up in the thread that is very subtle but when Tom sings that valentine song in the jazz club similar to the May I song it's not a Dicky song and the camera holds on Dicky's face for a sec while he gives a look over to Tom. It's the first time in the film it looks like a seed of suspicion has entered his mind
The flitting between happy and unhappy in Dickie alludes more to his personality than anything. It's as Marge says on the boat that one minute Dickie can give you all the attention and the other give you the cold shoulder. However, towards the end I don't think there is much ambiguity in Dickie having lost some of that earlier warmth towards Tom, as a result of Tom's behaviour, the difference in their personalities, and the dependence on Dickie. Dickie is still happy to go with Tom for one last trip and appears to be in good spirits around Tom, probably more as a result of going to a new place and experiencing the music, but the underlying feeling is that he has grown tired of Tom and will be relieved when he goes, which he practically admits before getting killed. You can tell when you compare how Dickie acts around Tom at the station before their last trip to when they are at the station previously.
share