Having read The
Great Gatsby in anticipation of the release of the film I found it to be quite
a difficult read. I put this down to the time it was written it, yet it didn't
spoil how much I enjoyed the story. Having watched the film now I realise how
excellent the book is. The Great Gatsby adapts the book in a way that makes it
much more engaging for a modern audience.
As the title
suggests, the plot is about a man named Gatsby (Leonardo di Caprio). He is a
bit of an enigma though as he throws massive parties at his house every week
but no-one seems to know who he is or what he does. Many different stories
exist about him but it turns out that he once loved a girl called Daisy (Carey
Mulligan). She lives across the lake from him and his whole display of grandeur
is an attempt to find her again. She is married to Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton)
though and so Gatsby enlists the help of his good friend and the narrator Nick
Carraway (Tobey Maguire).
The cast is
fantastic, and Leonardo di Caprio, once again, shines in the leading role. His
portrayal of Gatsby is so spot on to how I imagined him in the book. He exudes
an air of confidence and power throughout the film, and yet maintains a sense
of mystery throughout. I would be quite surprised if he isn't nominated for an
Academy Award for his performance. He makes the character of Gatsby every bit
as engaging as it should be and has firmly cemented him as one of my favourite
actors at the moment. Equally impressive is Tobey Maguire. Having not seen
anything he has been in since Spiderman 3 (and the less said about that the
better) I was interested to see how he did in such a well promoted and highly
anticipated film. I was pleasantly surprised and Maguire pulls off a portrayal
of Nick Carraway that seems to be every bit the portrayal that the book
describes. He starts of as a reserved and conscientious chap but evolves
throughout the film to be a very interesting character. The onscreen chemistry
between di Caprio and Maguire is wonderful, and is obviously a result of them
being childhood friends.
Both di Caprio
and Maguire are a pleasure to watch, as is Carey Mulligan, who plays the
lovelorn Daisy Buchanan. I hadn't really seen Mulligan in anything before
(except for one episode of Doctor Who in 2007) and so was quite sceptical about
her casting. She did nothing but entertain me for the whole film. She engaged
with both Maguire and di Caprio perfectly and delights in the role. She does a
wonderful job of appearing head over heels in love with Gatsby and yet reflects
the difficulty she has with leaving Tom perfectly. Additionally, the amount of
impressive work from hair and make up means that she really looks the part as
well.
There were a
number of things about the direction that I particularly enjoyed. In the book,
the green light at the end of the harbour is a particularly prominent theme,
and I wasn't quite sure how Luhrmann would be able to pull this off. To my
surprise though he did it absolutely fantastically. Even in the scenes where the
house is slightly in the background, the flashing green light was ever present,
and I love the message that this wove throughout the film. Every Baz Luhrmann
film is very engaging, but there is something quite different about The Great
Gatsby. Instead of holding your attention, there were some scenes where I felt
that I wanted to be involved. For example, the party scenes were particularly
engaging and enjoyable, to the point that I found myself wanting them to go on
for a bit longer. This level of engagement is very rare in modern cinema and is
exceptionally well managed by Luhrmann.
However, there
were a couple of things that I took issue with, most prominently the
soundtrack. Don’t get me wrong, it is a fantastic soundtrack and I really
enjoyed it, but I felt that it collided too much with the 1922 theme of the
film. Party scenes set to a modern Jay-Z tune didn't sit perfectly comfortably
with me. However, I enjoyed them nonetheless. Also, I thought the soundtrack
was a bit Jay-Z heavy. For the first half of the film I am fairly confident
that it was only Jay-Z songs. I know he was the executive producer for the
film, but a touch of variety would have been nice early on. The only other
thing I took issue with was that in some of the scenes it was painfully obvious
that the words spoken by the characters were not what was coming out of the
actor’s mouths. There is nothing worse than a mismatch between vocals and mouth
movements, and given the budget and publicity surrounding this film I was
disappointed to see it.
Overall though I
thoroughly enjoyed The Great Gatsby. I think it is very entertaining and
engaging, and fantastically adapts the book. The acting is exceptional
(particularly Leonardo di Caprio), and the direction is wonderful. Most of all
it captivates the audience, first with the mystery of Gatsby and then with the
unfolding love story. I would recommend that you read the book before you see
it, just to get an idea of the story and stuff and if you enjoy that, then
watch the film. Be careful though old sport, because it’s not for everyone.
Other films starring Leonardo di Caprio:
Django Unchained - http://mattsthoughtsonmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/django-unchained.html
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