Boats Against the Current Baz Luhrmanns The Great Gatsby
Ive seen Baz Luhrmanns version of
The Great Gatsby five times now. Im not even ashamed to admit it. If I were to somehow become Alien out of
Spring Breakers, it wouldnt be
Scarface Id have on repeat, it would be
The Great Gatsby. Anything remotely Gatsby I snap up - whether it be reblogging my 100th gif of Jordan Baker or changing my cover photo on Facebook or finding something pretty to adorn my bedroom walls with.
Despite all this, I dont actually
like The Great Gatsby as a film all that much. Lets put all of this into context: last term I did this huge research project about modern adaptations of classic films. Now, I wont bore you with the gory details since that thing ended up being like, 40 pages long, but
The Great Gatsby was my main focus. This was because I had never seen so many people around my age go absolutely nuts for this one movie. Admittedly, this was mainly because of the fact that Leonardo DiCaprio is descended from angels and were all materialistic magpies that will swoop in on anything that glitters (so you can imagine the field day we had with this). Lets just say, I wasnt the only one reblogging, cover photo-ing or adorning everything Gatsby.
However, I was the only one who had actually read
The Great Gatsby, the great American novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I was the only one who originally hated Tom Buchanan, knew the tragedy of Gatsby and frowned upon Daisys decisions. And now I had a whole lot of people joining the party because it never killed nobody. Okay, so Im not a thick-rimmed glasses wearing hipster. But Baz Luhrmanns version - no matter how much I love the guy and will defend his work until the bitter end - is not a good representation of the book. It is just a good representation of how to get the youngins in to watch something that doesnt have (many) explosions or robots and the like, and even perhaps read the book.
The conclusion I came to in my really long research report was that
The Great Gatsby is not a book that can be translated to the screen. F. Scott Fitzgerald was an absolute master with his words. So much so that it is almost like he is speaking in his own language. Theres one particular quote that I found by Anne Margaret Daniel of Huffington Post that said "Fitzgeralds language has already done all the cinematic work for the actors, directors, set designers and producers.
The Great Gatsby is an interior book, little concerned with externals. Fitzgerald conjures what he wants to say by way of description with only a few delicate strokes of words...We use our imaginations to fill out the pictures for ourselves, where a camera cannot". Which would leave you in a pretty sticky spot if you were thinking of giving Fitz the cinematic treatment. Even moreso if youre adapting a book often lauded for its subtle writing...and your name is Baz Luhrmann, the king of excess.
Yes, I have sat there watching
The Great Gatsby rolling my eyes at Luhrmanns feeble attempts at tackling the great motifs of the eye of T.J. Eckleburg and the green light. Theres only so many scenes of Leonardo DiCaprio reaching out to the distant, likely CGI green light at the end of Daisys dock that one can take. I love how Michaelis pops up in the background for no obvious reason, but hes quite the big part of the book. I have made some vociferous, angry statements about the end and how mangled it is compared to the book (what is worse that it was originally similar to the book, including the final scene with Jordan Baker - why would you cut a scene with the flawless Elizabeth Debicki in it?!). But if theres one thing that this film is very good at being, it is extremely faithful to the novel. 85% of the plot remains intact, save for the ending. 75% of the very limited dialogue from the novel remains intact. Yet, it feels like a very
loose adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgeralds novel. And again, thats because we have Baz Luhrmann, the king of excess, throwing glitter literally
everywhere, putting a huge gold organ in Gatsbys house and, well, introducing New York to a song thats most expressive line is "coke on her black skin made a stripe like a zebra".
Dont get me wrong, reading about Luhrmanns decisions was actually quite interesting - his heart was certainly in the right place - but lets not keep this film and the novel in the same universe. What Luhrmann has realised is how much times have changed since the jazz age, and how making a film with the same sensibilities as the novel wouldnt have got him the audience, nor boosted F. Scott Fitzgeralds novel back into Top 10 glory. Perhaps a subtle film by Sofia Coppola with jazz music would have been in a closer range to the novel, but Luhrmanns film is truly something different. Where else would you get a 3D 1920s set film with people riding in cars to some hip hop tunes? You can either take a glass half full or glass half empty approach: I think
The Great Gatsby is about as fresh as you can get in a blockbuster. Not perfect, but lets just say it is a damn fine rose in amongst some rusty franchise thorns.
Being an adaptation of my favourite book aside,
The Great Gatsby is one of my favourite films of the year. I could do without the ridiculous slow-mo shots (particularly that one of Wolfshiem) and the overkill of CGI, but it is so darn entertaining. It is the kind of thing that Baz Luhrmann is perfect at. He may not have the essence of the novel, but he has the essence of (what I imagine are) the 1920s. Plus, the performances are pretty good. Tobey Maguire isnt a half bad third wheeler, Carey Mulligan has the sing-song voice and hollowness of Daisy, Joel Edgerton is about as one-dimensional as you can get but still a hateful Tom, Isla Fisher had the right idea with Myrtle but she wasnt given enough time, and Jason Clarke was perhaps a little too melodramatic as Wilson (that scene where he is rubbing that glass over his face is kinda weird).
 |
| Shes so peeeeeeeerfect |
But the film belongs to Leonardo DiCaprio and Elizabeth Debicki. The latter is definitely my (and hopefully the rest of the worlds) next Jessica Chastain. Jordan was always my favourite character, and Elizabeth plays her
perfectly. Her voice, the way she carries herself, the way she looks...shes magnificent, and the fact that she was practically an unknown? I love heeeeer. And it goes without saying that Leonardo DiCaprio is the perfect Gatsby. Sure, the script makes Gatsby out to be a little more naive and narrow-minded than the complex hero of the novel, but hes just so damn heart breaking. Not to mention that completely ridiculous introduction. It is so over the top and perfect that every time I see it I start laughing and crying hysterically at the same time.
Then again, thats just my teenaged heart acting up. Every day is Leo-Mania for me.
So yeah, I both love and revile at The Great Gatsby. But I am glad that the film has had such an influence that it is our ball theme for this year (which has been my dream for, like, ever). And I am glad that the soundtrack has provided me with plenty of hip tunes to walk briskly to school with. Its shallow, glittering entertainment, but hey, it is beautiful. One day Ill own a house like Gatsbys.
Until then, Ill be reaching out to the green light I can see across our farm by the sanitation ponds.
I really wish I was joking about that last part.
(credits to here and here for the gifsets)
Available link for download
One of my favorite looks is shorts with tights. I dont care if its not "in," Ill wear it until the day I die. (A quick blog search reveals that Ive been doin it since at least 2014.) When you find something that works for you, why stop? Especially when the shorts are as cute as these. I got them when I was working at Urban Outfitters as an 18-year old so, yeah. Ive had these shorts for quite some time. (Dont make me do the math. My birthday was a few days ago and I already feel super old.) Ive gone through a lot of style changes but these shorts have always stayed with me. I just love the colors! So many floral patterns are bright and this one is dark and moody. Perfect for the mysterious girl vibes Im going for.
