THE GREAT GATSBY
Director : Baz Luhrmann
Year : 2013
Genre : Drama
Rating : ****
Directed by Baz Luhrmann and starring Tobey Maguire, Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan, 'The Great Gatsby' is a blaze and voluptuous adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's seminal American novel. I am no fan of the director in any way, but 'The Great Gatsby' is one of the most visually stunning movies I have seen since 2012's 'Life Of Pi'. With amazing cinematography, brilliant acting and superb direction, the film is sure to feature heavily at next years Academy Awards ceremony and hopefully, DiCaprio will finally win his long deserved Oscar. While the movie does sheen over the political and social commentary of the book, it achieves in realising the main ideologies and zeitgeists with verve and courageous urgency. Not only will I be buying 'The Great Gatsby' when it is finally released on Bluray, but I will also be purchasing a copy of the original novel itself.
Tobey Maguire plays war veteran Nick Carraway, a socially awkward journalist who is lured into the world of his next door neighbour, the mysterious and reclusive Jay Gatsby played by Leonardo DiCaprio. A true showman, Gatsby throws giant and extravagant parties every week in his palacial mansion, inviting the poor and rich of New York from miles around. When he receives a special invitation to Gatsby's party, Carraway reluctantly accepts and soon finds himself in the middle of a wild, alcohol fuelled carnival which is full of music, dancing and beautiful women. During the hysteria, he meets Gatsby and after long conversations, they become good and strong friends. However, the more he learns about the millionaire, the more he sees through the cracks of Gatsby's nouveau riche existence to reveal a world of obsession, tragedy and brewing madness.
As film fans will surely know, Luhrmann's adaptation is not the first screen realisation of Fitzgerald's incendiary story. Going back to the days of silent cinema, 'The Great Gatsby' has been made into many different films, most famously the 1974 version starring the great Robert Redford and Mia Farrow. I haven't seen this adaptation of 'Gatsby' but I certainly intend to, not only to compare both that and Luhrmann's vision but because the film is meant to be one Redford's best. However, I can't imagine that it is as visually astonishing and captivating as this; Luhrmann's best film to date and a motion picture that showcases one of DiCaprio's best ever performances. What does that man have to do to win an Oscar?
Tobey Maguire plays war veteran Nick Carraway, a socially awkward journalist who is lured into the world of his next door neighbour, the mysterious and reclusive Jay Gatsby played by Leonardo DiCaprio. A true showman, Gatsby throws giant and extravagant parties every week in his palacial mansion, inviting the poor and rich of New York from miles around. When he receives a special invitation to Gatsby's party, Carraway reluctantly accepts and soon finds himself in the middle of a wild, alcohol fuelled carnival which is full of music, dancing and beautiful women. During the hysteria, he meets Gatsby and after long conversations, they become good and strong friends. However, the more he learns about the millionaire, the more he sees through the cracks of Gatsby's nouveau riche existence to reveal a world of obsession, tragedy and brewing madness.
As film fans will surely know, Luhrmann's adaptation is not the first screen realisation of Fitzgerald's incendiary story. Going back to the days of silent cinema, 'The Great Gatsby' has been made into many different films, most famously the 1974 version starring the great Robert Redford and Mia Farrow. I haven't seen this adaptation of 'Gatsby' but I certainly intend to, not only to compare both that and Luhrmann's vision but because the film is meant to be one Redford's best. However, I can't imagine that it is as visually astonishing and captivating as this; Luhrmann's best film to date and a motion picture that showcases one of DiCaprio's best ever performances. What does that man have to do to win an Oscar?
To me, Baz Luhrmann's films have always been the equivalent of an overly iced cake; nice to look at, but sickly and too sweet for comfort. Never one to shy away from visual splendour, Luhrmann has always been much more interested in aesthetics rather than narrative and substance and for proof, look no further than his 1996 adaptation of the Shakespeare classic 'Romeo & Juliet'. His first collaboration with Leonardo DiCaprio, 'Romeo & Juliet' was an overhyped and vacuous film that trampled over the subtext and meaning of one of the playwrights greatest works. Modernizing the story, Luhrmann lost the spirit of the play and as a result, the film seemed rather pointless and vapid. However it looked beautiful and at the 1997 Academy Awards, the film was nominated for Best Art Direction/Set Decoration, but eventually lost to Stuart Craig's work for the Best Picture winner, 'The English Patient'. The same fate would befall his 2001 musical epic 'Moulin Rouge', which would also be nominated in the category. Hopefully, 'The Great Gatsby' will break this unfortunate trend. So far this year, I haven't seen a more beautiful and extravagant looking film and to me, is the front runner for not only an Oscar for Best Art Direction, but for Best Picture as well.
To me, 'The Great Gatsby' is about a man's doomed eternal search for the American Dream. Surrounding himself in an air of mystery, the millionaire clouds his true feelings and emotions with a sheen of class, charm and eloquence. Played perfectly by Leonardo DiCaprio, Gatsby is given an an ambience which instantly creates a likable and personable character. While definetly seeming false, Di Caprio manages to mix the nerves, frustrations and maddening obsessions with brilliant determination, proudness and majesty; creating a captivating, interesting and fantastic characterisation. As mentioned in my 'Django Unchained' review, I was never a fan of DiCaprio, thanks to his weak and droll performances in films such as 'Titanic', 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape?', 'The Quick & The Dead' and the aforementioned 'Romeo & Juliet'. However in the past decade, he has changed his characterisations completely and a result, he has become one of the greatest actors in the world. From 'Shutter Island' to 'Inception', 'Gangs Of New York' to 'J. Edgar', DiCaprio has created some of the best and most interesting characters in modern cinema and 'The Great Gatbsy' shows him at his most mercurial. Well overdue for an Academy Award, his portrayal of Jay Gatsby should bag him an Oscar next year. If not, Leonardo DiCaprio will NEVER win an Academy Award.
Best known for his starring role in Sam Raimi's 'Spider-man' trilogy, Tobey Maguire is brilliant as the self effacing Nick Carraway whose quietude and demeanour completely contrasts Jay Gatsby's theatrical persona. Bringing an air of uncertainty and vulnerability, Maguire is able to seem completely relatable and personable to the audience without ever resorting to overacting or forced characterisations . To us, Carraway is our point of focus as we see and hear the entire story through his eyes and voiceover and Maguire is perfectly cast as an ordinary man who is thrown into a completely extraordinary situation, much in the same way as he was brilliantly cast as the quiet and shy Peter Parker. Carey Mulligan who has shown just how accomplished an actress she is in films such as 'An Education' and 'Drive' is also good as Gatsby's long lost love Daisy Buchanan. While her character may not be as colourful or as layered as her previous parts, Mulligan makes the most of her role and is well cast as the icy blonde who stole Gatsby's heart. The movie also sports a fantastic supporting cast which includes Isla Fisher, Joel Edgerton and Jason Clarke.
Having not read the book, I feel as if I missed a lot while watching 'The Great Gatsby' but from what I saw, Luhrmann has succeeded in bringing Fitzgerald's novel to the big screen. Beneath the sheen and glamour, 'The Great Gatsby' is a story of doomed obsession, lost love and Shakespearean tragedy and with exciting chase scenes, tense darkly lit conversations and brooding underscoring, Luhrmann creates a claustrophobic air of impending catastrophe and unstoppable sadness. The movie is very well paced and at nearly 2 and a half hours, 'The Great Gatsby' is a completely overwhelming and engrossing tale that draws you in within 5 minutes of it's opening credits. It's long playtime allows us to get to know each character intimately and personably, so that when the inevitable tragedy occurs, we feel it just as much. We feel each triumphant victory and each crushing defeat and this makes 'The Great Gatsby' seem that much more personal and relatable.
Despite opening to critical acclaim, the movie has not performed well at the box office. Costing over $100 million, 'The Great Gatsby' has made just under double it's budget. For many films, this would be a success, but for such a high profile, star studded bonanza, this is a disappointing result. However, the film is well praised by the Fitzgerald's, who were hired to ensure complete faithfulness to the novel and to me, this is one of the most important things about the movie. Many adaptations of famous and well loved novels have been loathed by their original writers such as 'Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory' and 'Animal Farm'. Showing a respect for both the source and the art of storytelling, Luhrmann took care to adhere to Fitzgeralds original vision and this just makes 'The Great Gatsby' that much better.
I can't say how close this adaptation is to Fitzgerald's novel, but if you are fans of extraordinary cinematography, great storytelling and first class acting, I cannot recommend 'The Great Gatbsy' highly enough. It is an intimate, moving and tense portrayal of the eternal search for the impossible American dream and shows how fame, wealth and false happiness are all doomed ventures. We are only truly happy when we are with the ones we love and if we could all experience the same love that Gatsby has for Daisy, the world would be a much happier place.
You will like this if you liked : The Last Tycoon & All The King's Men
To me, 'The Great Gatsby' is about a man's doomed eternal search for the American Dream. Surrounding himself in an air of mystery, the millionaire clouds his true feelings and emotions with a sheen of class, charm and eloquence. Played perfectly by Leonardo DiCaprio, Gatsby is given an an ambience which instantly creates a likable and personable character. While definetly seeming false, Di Caprio manages to mix the nerves, frustrations and maddening obsessions with brilliant determination, proudness and majesty; creating a captivating, interesting and fantastic characterisation. As mentioned in my 'Django Unchained' review, I was never a fan of DiCaprio, thanks to his weak and droll performances in films such as 'Titanic', 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape?', 'The Quick & The Dead' and the aforementioned 'Romeo & Juliet'. However in the past decade, he has changed his characterisations completely and a result, he has become one of the greatest actors in the world. From 'Shutter Island' to 'Inception', 'Gangs Of New York' to 'J. Edgar', DiCaprio has created some of the best and most interesting characters in modern cinema and 'The Great Gatbsy' shows him at his most mercurial. Well overdue for an Academy Award, his portrayal of Jay Gatsby should bag him an Oscar next year. If not, Leonardo DiCaprio will NEVER win an Academy Award.
Best known for his starring role in Sam Raimi's 'Spider-man' trilogy, Tobey Maguire is brilliant as the self effacing Nick Carraway whose quietude and demeanour completely contrasts Jay Gatsby's theatrical persona. Bringing an air of uncertainty and vulnerability, Maguire is able to seem completely relatable and personable to the audience without ever resorting to overacting or forced characterisations . To us, Carraway is our point of focus as we see and hear the entire story through his eyes and voiceover and Maguire is perfectly cast as an ordinary man who is thrown into a completely extraordinary situation, much in the same way as he was brilliantly cast as the quiet and shy Peter Parker. Carey Mulligan who has shown just how accomplished an actress she is in films such as 'An Education' and 'Drive' is also good as Gatsby's long lost love Daisy Buchanan. While her character may not be as colourful or as layered as her previous parts, Mulligan makes the most of her role and is well cast as the icy blonde who stole Gatsby's heart. The movie also sports a fantastic supporting cast which includes Isla Fisher, Joel Edgerton and Jason Clarke.
Having not read the book, I feel as if I missed a lot while watching 'The Great Gatsby' but from what I saw, Luhrmann has succeeded in bringing Fitzgerald's novel to the big screen. Beneath the sheen and glamour, 'The Great Gatsby' is a story of doomed obsession, lost love and Shakespearean tragedy and with exciting chase scenes, tense darkly lit conversations and brooding underscoring, Luhrmann creates a claustrophobic air of impending catastrophe and unstoppable sadness. The movie is very well paced and at nearly 2 and a half hours, 'The Great Gatsby' is a completely overwhelming and engrossing tale that draws you in within 5 minutes of it's opening credits. It's long playtime allows us to get to know each character intimately and personably, so that when the inevitable tragedy occurs, we feel it just as much. We feel each triumphant victory and each crushing defeat and this makes 'The Great Gatsby' seem that much more personal and relatable.
Despite opening to critical acclaim, the movie has not performed well at the box office. Costing over $100 million, 'The Great Gatsby' has made just under double it's budget. For many films, this would be a success, but for such a high profile, star studded bonanza, this is a disappointing result. However, the film is well praised by the Fitzgerald's, who were hired to ensure complete faithfulness to the novel and to me, this is one of the most important things about the movie. Many adaptations of famous and well loved novels have been loathed by their original writers such as 'Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory' and 'Animal Farm'. Showing a respect for both the source and the art of storytelling, Luhrmann took care to adhere to Fitzgeralds original vision and this just makes 'The Great Gatsby' that much better.
I can't say how close this adaptation is to Fitzgerald's novel, but if you are fans of extraordinary cinematography, great storytelling and first class acting, I cannot recommend 'The Great Gatbsy' highly enough. It is an intimate, moving and tense portrayal of the eternal search for the impossible American dream and shows how fame, wealth and false happiness are all doomed ventures. We are only truly happy when we are with the ones we love and if we could all experience the same love that Gatsby has for Daisy, the world would be a much happier place.
You will like this if you liked : The Last Tycoon & All The King's Men
Nice review. Maybe it won't be so bad getting dragged along to this film after all.
ReplyDelete-JC
Good review Dan. The novel will probably forever, and always will be considered unfilmable, no matter how hard this movie tries to make it work.
ReplyDeleteThanks. As I say I havent read the book but based on the strength of the film, I definetly will.
DeleteIts like you read my mind! You seem to know so much about this, like you wrote the book in it or something.
ReplyDeleteI think that you could do with some pics to drive the
message home a little bit, but other than that, this is fantastic blog.
A fantastic read. I will definitely be back.
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