The Great Gatsby (2013 film)
Based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel of the same name. Co-written and directed by Baz Luhrmann, and staring Leonardo DiCaprio as the eponymous Jay Gatsby, Tobey Maguire as Nick Carraway, Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan, Joel Edgerton as Tom Buchanan, Elizabeth Debicki as Jordan Baker, Isla Fisher as Myrtle Wilson, and Jason Clarke as George Wilson.
This movie is visually gorgeous, with very natural special effects, beautiful decor and costumes, but the virtuosity of the production detracts from the storyline, and the actors suffer from the visionary art of Baz Luhrmann.
Technically, there are no flaws to point at, but the choice of some breathtaking fly-by’s of the sets and landscapes, constant camera movements, and modern music could be argued.
and modern music could be argued.
A bit of hip-hop music to introduce New York City is a great idea; too much with added techno and dance beats forgoes the purpose, even for a historical piece with a modern spin. I wanted to hear the music of the era, the Jazz that made the Roaring Twenties… well, roar, which is almost completely absent in this remake.
The grand scale production, which at first is attractive, distracts more than it helps the storyline. The sumptuous sets suffice in them-selves to add value to the artistry of the film without having to use so many fly-by’s and camera movements. Sure, it confers a great rhythm to the movie which wants to parody the fervor of the buoyant era. However, here, it engulfs the love story—which is also what the film is about—and treats it with the same decadence, though well in tune with the period, but almost as an afterthought. We tend to forget the societal barriers that the lovers are encountering, and the desperate plans that Jay Gatsby tries to go around them, reconcile the past and re-kindle a flame in the subject of his love. It is poorly depicted here, and feels more like simple adultery instead of lost love, compared to Jack Clayton’s 1974 version, where the excruciating heartache is omnipresent.
What worked so brilliantly in Baz Luhrmann’s 2001 Moulin Rouge does not work as well here.
40 | Ceres Magazine | Oct/Nov 2015
Promotional Movie Poster by Works Adv.
Still of Carey Mulligan in The Great Gatsby (2013),
by Matt Hart - © 2013 Bazmark Film III Pty Limited.