An adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's Long Island-set novel, where Midwesterner Nick Carraway is lured into the lavish world of his neighbor, Jay Gatsby. Soon enough, however, Carraway will see th...
Everyone has their film rivalry: That one film that they seem to hate, yet they cannot justify that venomous verdict. Here is mine. Upon first seeing Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby, in the early months of 2019, I was devastated. I had just begun to study the novel and had adored its setting, its motifs, and its characters. The novel has music weaved into its words! So, when I discovered that Luhrmann's copy had electro-swing' music, I was surprised. Then saddened. Then seething. Along with a hatred of the cocaine-fuelled camera, the choppy editing, and the abhorrent green screen, I decided to stop watching the movie before finishing and condemn it forever.
Yet, I felt that this was unfair. By learning more about film criticism, I realized that one should never abandon a movie. It would be the equivalent to leaving a football match at halftime confident of victory. So, after a year of reconciliation, I returned to face the music.
This time around, I finished the film. It is nowhere near as bad as I first projected. The performances are mostly strong, particularly Joel Edgerton with an ingeniously preppy Tom Buchanan, and the set design is magnificent. From the Valley of Ashes to Daisy and Tom's firey home, Luhrmann has scanned through the novel's lines for inspiration. In regards to the famous novel, the screenplay is loyal, taking lines from the book and easily putting them on screen. There were some original lines which didn't quite stand up to Fitzgerald, but, to beat Fitzgerald at writing, would be to best Ali at boxing.
That being said, I still had many issues with the film. People regularly write off Luhrmann's fast-paced camera and dog chewed editing as a consequence of his genius. Firstly, I don't think anyone should be subject to leniences in basic film preparation. Do you need a slow pan inwards on every shot? No. No, I don't think you do. The aforementioned use of electro-swing was not to my taste, however, I understand that that is simply part of my music taste. I do think the music captured the party atmosphere well. Elizabeth Debicki as Jordan started strong yet, in certain scenes, seemed to act rather strangely as if a caricature. This could perhaps work for the excitable Daisy but not for the formidable Jordan Baker. Establishing shots and close-ups sometimes made use of green screens which were, in some places, awful. In fact, a lot of the settings seemed to flicker between set and digital, something that became immensely distracting.
The Great Gatsby is a film with a lot on its shoulders; that being one of the most critically renowned books ever written. Yet Luhrmann should not be phased. Having adapted Shakespeare, and in my opinion, rather well, Gatsby needs to be only another hurdle. Whilst it is a hurdle cleared, it is not one with a smooth landing; more of a stumble. With a lot to live up to, and I am not just talking about my expectations, The Great Gatsby remains loyal to the source material but fails to capture Fitzgerald's timeless criticism of hedonism, instead, creating a perfectly average piece of film-reel, left on Luhrmann's slaughterhouse editing room.
