The Great Gatsby (Review)

Director:Baz Luhrmann
Writers: Baz Luhrmann (screenplay), Craig Pearce (screenplay)
Country: Australia | USA
Language:English
Release Date: 16 May 2013 (Russia)

Plot

 

The plot revolves around Nick Carraway, who moved to New York in the spring of 1922. Engaged in lending operations in a small company he begins his story recollection of how rented a house in West Egg, Long Island, where, in contrast to East Egg, lived not noble, but no less rich. He settled next to the rich, mysterious man named Jay Gatsby. Almost every night he has a party, comes the sea and uninvited dinner guests, rich and poor, Jay glad to welcome them. So Nick meets him at a party, immediately liked this Gatsby. So Nick is drawn into the exciting world of the rich - they are illusions, love and lies. He becomes a witness to what is happening in this world and writes a story of impossible love, eternal dreams and the human tragedy that is a reflection of contemporary manners.

 

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s great American novel leaps to life in Baz Luhrmann’s frenetic-yet-haunting version of The Great Gatsby.  The film stays remarkably true to the novel in plot and dialogue while being for large stretches surreal on the screen.

It was deliciously excessive and exaggerated, as expected from a Baz Luhrmann production. Leonardo DiCaprio made Gatsby his own  while retaining a feeling of familiarity. There’s some essential magnetism contained in the Gatsby image that’s missing from Mr. DiCaprio’s performance.

 Carey Mulligan's Daisy is every bit as careless as one would expect, but she also manages to show some complexity in her role. Tobey Maguire is a great avatar for us to take on as we enter this film. He is very much the viewer as he sees everything happening, but is ultimately helpless to change anything.

Luhrmann tried to maintain Nick's narrative frame by having him tell the story -first as a patient speaking to his doctor at a sanitarium, then as a writer trying to explain his grief through prose. But those scenes came across as heavy-handed expository or as Maguire's uninspired take on an abridged audiobook version of "The Great Gatsby."

It’s great fun, though, even if somewhat disjointed. Everything starts to cool down about halfway through the film. The colors start to decline to pastels and wood grains, and then down to shadows. This tracks with the narrative - more on that in a moment - but it has an obvious feel to it. So, I really loved it!