Put together love, wealth, and the American Dream and you have yourself what is considered to be one of the greatest novels of all time, or at least, that is what Francis Scott Fitzgerald did with The Great Gatsby in 1925. Fitzgerald was able to masterfully create a book that entailed the lives of the young and the restless minds of those stuck in a love triangle, ultimately detailing their pursuit of the American Dream. Chasing his own American Dream, Nick, who is a writer and wall street trader, finds himself drawn to the past and lifestyle of his millionaire neighbor Jay Gatsby when landing next door to the mysterious, party-giving millionaire. Nick also finds himself across the bay from his cousin, Daisy, and her philandering, blue-blooded husband, Tom Buchanan. Thus, Nick is drawn into the captivating world of the super-rich, their illusions, loves, and deceits, bearing witness and penning a tale of impossible love, incorruptible dreams, and high-octane tragedy. It is in watching this cycle of love and deceit that we are able to see its relation to our own modern times and struggles.
Sitting in what he described as a “sardine-box of a cabin,” Luhrmann first imagined his own adaptation of the book in 2004 riding on a train in Siberia whilst listening to a monotonous reading of the highly regarded classic The Great Gatsby. Despite the dull and uninvolving interpretation of the book, Baz’ creative mindset turned the novel into an illustrious and colorful picture. Fighting for nearly two years to obtain the rights for the film, the production of the film began in 2011, marking the start of a colorful journey that provided us with a film that was both interesting and entertaining to watch. This goal of creating a “classic” movie was not achieved; therefore, this new movie and the older film do not earn a spot on my list as classic movies, but they did have a lot of benefits and were ultimately both very entertaining to watch.
Despite winning two Oscars and receiving a multitude of other nominations, there were many things about “The Great Gatsby” that were not so great. The movie has a lot of moving parts that are meant to overwhelm you into believing it is a masterful film and deserving of any Oscar, but in reality, it is an excess of material that is both unwanted and unneeded. The movie is big, bright, and bold with its wild parties and exuberant characters, all of which stimulate your emotion and passion for each of the characters. While this is pleasing to many of those who aren’t watching the movie critically but for mere entertainment, there are points in the film that make you wonder if you are intrigued or infuriated by what Luhrmann produced. Both the newer and the older productions of the film failed to do one of the most important things an adaptation of a book must seek out to do: not only stay true to the novel but also capture the spirit and meaning of what the author is trying to convey. The newer film did a better job in this regard, but both failed on this level and did not succeed in letting those enjoy the movie as much as the book.
While the movie failed on several levels, there was one saving piece of the film, a scene in particular, that made some us believe that there was hope for a good movie at the beginning of the film. Wesley Morris puts it beautifully saying, “It comes after what feels like an hour — an hour of spinning and zooming and whooshing, of minced imagery, of Tobey Maguire talking and talking and talking, of a 1922 that keeps whispering the songs of 2000 – something (Alicia Keys’ voice wails New Yoooooooork as a car crosses a bridge) of relentless audiovisual sugar. As for the shot, it’s just a close-up of Jay Gatsby. But the movie has so gossiped about his parties, his travels, his riches, his essence, his bogusness that you just want to see for yourself what’s got everybody so breathless. You want to lose your breath, too. So when Luhrmann finally put a face to the fanaticism and produced Leonardo DiCaprio’s, I reached for an inhaler. DiCaprio’s mouth is etched, equidistant, between a smile and a smirk, his blond hair frozen and fixed into amber waves, his skin as pink and orange as grapefruit meat. This is why you go to the movies — for a sight you’ve never seen even though you’ve seen it a hundred times.”
With Redford’s performance being about as bad as the film itself, Dicaprio contrasts this with something so new, emotionally breathtaking, and amazing. It is with this stardom and these types of moments that keep bringing us back to the theater, and it is also the reason why this movie deserves a second look.
