What can I say about Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation of that great classic novel
The Great Gatsby? As with all adaptations from book to film, I hesitate to compare the two, burdened by the understanding that they are entirely disparate mediums.
Among the many differences, the writer struggles in front of the computer on his own, his imagination leaping into the unknown just as the film director casts about trying to assimilate her cast, crew, art directors, and more often than not the weather, small children, vehicles, and occasionally wayward animals.
Perhaps the way to go is Luhrmann’s after all, willfully throwing away any semblance of trying to faithfully adapt a piece of writing, metamorphosing it instead into pure spectacle - this is exactly how this particular version of The Great Gatsby is, a pure unaffected extravaganza, and that too, in 3D.
Even without watching the three dimensional version, one’s visual senses are overwhelmed. The camera zooms in and out from wide vistas into mansion rooms and people dancing, suddenly then swinging around to show yet another entirely unexpected panorama. This is what Luhrmann is good at, showing off cinematically and to maximum effect.
Unfortunately, what he lacks, perhaps out of laziness, is converting F Scott Fitzgerald’s incisive and sometimes gorgeous prose into believable dialogue.
Almost everything that comes out of the characters’ mouths are unbearably affected, even when Daisy Buchanan is played by the lovely and charming Carey Mulligan and Leonardo DiCaprio is Gatsby. Nick Carraway meanwhile is played by the usually great, but this time initially very silly, Tobey Maguire; the only real delight is the newcomer Elizabeth Debicki as Jordan Baker, the bored but lovely socialite golfer. Isla Fischer, meanwhile, is surprisingly good as the trashy but vulnerable Myrtle.
If you have not read The Great Gatsby, I will summarise for you, but, I warn you, my words will be inadequate in summing up the ineffable sense of romance that permeates throughout the story. Jay Gatsby, a mysterious and freakishly rich businessman has become famous for throwing outlandishly lavish parties at his new mansion in West Egg (think West Hampton). Daisy Buchanan who has married into old money in the form of the brutish Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton) lives in East Egg, across the harbor. Gatsby can see her house from his promenade, land-marked by the now famous ‘green light’.
When Gatsby adopts Nick as his protégé we begin to understand it is only really to get to Daisy, Nick’s cousin. Eventually, after a great deal of hemming and hawing, Gatsby asks Nick to invite Daisy to tea; they had been in love before Gatsby went off to fight in the first World War and before Daisy was forced to marry Tom.
So begins a sumptuous romance, complete with tragedy, deceit, copious amounts of alcohol, pearls, and flapper dresses, set in the splendour of the roaring 20s.
The film is not great, it is a bit too long at 143 minutes, and yet, there are moments that will captivate you with their sheer extravagance and cinematic finesse. Also, surprisingly, as the film rushes towards its tragic end, Tobey Maguire redeems his Nick Carraway, becoming the heart and soul of this mostly empty film, with its empty characters.
Watch the film too for its quite amazing soundtrack. Barring a clanking and hubris filled mess from Jay Z, there are some gems from Florence + the Machine, the xx, Lana Del Rey, and Nero. Long after the film is done, you’ll continue hearing the music in your head, and for this alone it is worth watching this sometimes charming, mostly absurd adaptation.
Watch trailer: