Baz Lurhman's Great Gatsby is massive, grandiose and overall a spectacular film to sit through despite feeling overly long.
Lurhman's take on the 1920's novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald might miss the whole point of the novel, the time in which it was set meant something and pulling that story and trying to almost modernize isn't something that I think works particularly well, but that doesn't mean that this film is not a faithful adaptation of its source material.
The film follows the mysterious Jay Gatsby, a wealthy man living next door to Nick Carraway our films primary narrator and the journey he goes through in order to reclaim a love he had once lost. The majority of the film we follow Gatsby and the life that he lead before becoming the wealthy man he is and the ways in which he is trying to get Daisy (the woman he loves) back into his life. There is a lot more to it than that but a lot of the plot would be a spoilers and that's not what I am here to tell you about.
This film has Baz Lurhman's trademark stylistic approach, similar to that in Moulin Rouge and Romeo and Juliet. The scale of the film is massive and you feel that the parties that Gatsby throws do feel larger than life. The use of music is also pretty awesome, using tracks by contemporary artists and placing them in a 1920's setting just works and I especially like it when the trumpet and brass instruments join in to create a cacophony of intense music. Very fitting.
However it is the acting performance in this film that make it so enjoyable and such a stand out. Carey Mulligan is one of my favourite up and coming actress' with her performance in "Drive" being enjoyable before showing off that she really does have some great acting skills in this film. Tobey Maguire is also fairly enjoyable besides it being hard for me to not see him as Spiderman any more I did really enjoy his performance as Nick Carraway, and he makes the character seem and feel really sympathetic besides the fact that he too is becoming wrapped up in this world of crime and filth. The reason to watch this film though, is Leonardo Di Caprio's performance and I will talk about one of the specific scenes just to give you an insight.
The scene begins with Gatsby (Leonardo Di Caprio) bringing a selection of
flowers and tea cakes to the house of Nick Carraway in preparation for the
looming visit of Daisy who is Nicks cousin. The duration of this scene, Di Caprio is
on top form, the cool and suave Gatsby that we have seen thus far is nowhere to
be found. In his place a flustered, heavy breathing and fidgeting Gatsby is what
we find. Di Caprio, uses props such as the clock to allow us insight into the fact
that Gatsby is very worried and anxious about this looming visit, when Carraway
(Tobey Maguire) questions Gatsby about how his grass looks, the grass which
Gatsby had cut he completely forgets what Caraway is asking due to his
anxiousness and the way that the line is delivered makes me almost feel anxious
as though I should be fearful of the looming visit. Di Caprio also uses a selection
of ticks to help portray that his character is dreading the meeting, the way that
he fiddles with his suit pulling it and fixing it, and constantly keeping a hand in
his pocket almost to seem busy, and he does the same thing with his hair,
constantly fixing it and slicking it back, this character can’t even stand still. Di
Caprio also becomes incredibly timid once he meets Daisy, and is even unable to
get his words out in the beginning; after she remarks “I am certainly glad to see
you” he stutters and falters before being able to reply. After Gatsby leaves the
house and stands out in the rain, he is also very one track minded, he wants to
see Daisy and that’s all he cares about speeding towards her as he enters the
house again, Di Caprio ignores what Carraway has to say, once more slicking
back his hair and fixing his suit before confronting her. The look in Di Caprio’s
eyes is almost one of anger when Carraway questions him as to “what he is
doing!” and he simply ignores him, barely an acknowledgement before going
straight for Daisy. The final point I have to make is that even once the initial
meeting is over with, Di Caprio has a smile on his face but he still acts very
nervously around Daisy, fiddling with the clock and making a quick attempt to fix
it and such, again adding that human element to the character, because of
course the awkwardness wouldn’t end there, it takes time to rebuild a
relationship and get over that awkwardness and Di Caprio demonstrates this.
That cool tone that Di Caprio usually gives to Gatsby melts away, his voice isn’t
as formal, and he even sounds like a young boy unable to speak, the expression
in his face changes from a business demeanour to that of horror and worry and
above all else, it is a sadness one that is deep and cannot return to the
happiness it once knew. That straight posture that is usually given to Gatsby has
to be supported by his cane, he is almost leaning on his cane more than he ever
does again in the rest of the film, and perhaps Di Caprio was trying to show that
Gatsby was “weak at the knees” due to the fact that his love is returning to him.
Di Caprio is able to portray this character in a myriad of different ways, with him
being calm and collected throughout most of the film but there are scenes like
this where all the false information and lies about Gatsby melt away and we are
left with this raw emotion of the character that can’t be hid by any façade.
Now not all of the scenes in this film are like this, but I thought his performance was enough to carry the film if needs be, however the rest of the film is pretty good fun too so I say go check it out!
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