The Great Gatsby

The first time I read The Great Gatsby, I hated it. In fact, I only made it half way through the book and gave up, cursing AQA for forcing me to sit an exam on such a boring, self-important book. Two months before my exam, I felt that I should probably, for the sake of my grade, read the whole thing. To say that I changed my mind would be an understatement. It is my favourite novel and news that Baz Luhrmann was to direct a new film adaptation of F Scott Fitzgerald's most famous work excited me immensely. It's always dangerous to go to the cinema with this level of excitement.

Jay Gatsby is the enigmatic host of countless parties: guests aren't invited, they go. His parties are a whirlwind of cocktails, corrupt morals, glamorous frocks and rumours about the host. Some say that he killed a man, others that he is related to the Kaiser. One thing is for sure, Mr Gatsby is a mysterious host. If anyone was to translate the excess and violent spontaneity of Gatsby's lifestyle through the prism of a film camera, it is Baz Luhrmann. For the uninitiated, The Great Gatsby is narrated by Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire), a mid-western war veteran who finds himself living next door to the millionaire Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio). Nick is drawn to his ambiguous neighbour, whose past and present are intertwined with Nick's cousin, Daisy (Carey Mulligan).

Fitzgerald's novel contains some of the most beautiful turns of phrase and each sentence flows with a lyricism and truthfulness about life. Unfortunately, this subtlety is somewhat lost in Luhrmann's adaptation which opens with a frenetic establishing of Gatsby's world. The camera (in all its 3D glory) swoops down skyscrapers, bounds off the luxurious mise-en-scène and cuts between characters as if lingering too long would reveal too much about them. Ironically, this is one of the film's major problems: Luhrmann seems less concerned with the deep heart of the source material and focuses on the feel of the age in which the novel is set. The excess of the Jazz Age manifests itself in the film through the almost pop video aesthetic and energy and there can be no argument that the film doesn't look beautiful. In fact, it is stunning. Each frame dazzles with a sparkle as if the negatives were processed by Tiffany's and the green-screen theatrics help to set the tone wonderfully. Perhaps this was the director's intention: to create a world which doesn't really exist – Gatsby's parties are a show, a shallow front for his real desire to capture Daisy in a world of chaotic opulence. The CGI and ostentatious soundtrack by Jay-Z are a mirror, reflecting Gatsby's need to maintain his dream. In this respect, the film works brilliantly.

There could be no other current actor to play Gatsby and DiCaprio does a sterling job of portraying one of American literature's greatest characters. Coupled with Mulligan, who provides a nicely tempered performance as the capricious Daisy, the central dynamics between the pair were nicely constructed. Their meeting in Nick's flower-filled living room was a dramatic moment, full of tension, but was a moment which should have been replicated and maintained throughout the film. Joel Edgerton's ill-tempered Tom Buchanan was well cast and tonally suited to juxtapose the character with Gatsby. In narrative terms, the opening fifteen minutes hurtled along so fast that I thought I'd get a headache from the 3D but this pace settled down and the film established a consistent (and more appealing) rhythm.

Ultimately, however, the emotional tenacity of the source material seemed to be suffocated by the visuals. Literary purists will not be won-over by the film but perhaps this isn't the point. Luhrmann's Gatsby is an interpretation, an element of the novel which captures the essence of an age where men wore beautiful shirts and the best a woman could do was to be a beautiful little fool. But the novel's real messages are somewhat lost in the aesthetic fervour of the film. Behind the three-piece suits and the glimmering jewels in Daisy's hair, there's little real comment. In interviews, Luhrmann has talked of the film's relevance to today's society, not just to the 1920s but there's a severe lack of comment in the film.

In the end, The Great Gatsby is an impressive spectacle, but a superficial spectacle at that. DiCaprio fits perfectly into the role of Gatsby but there is little real weight behind the camera zooms and digital magic. Fitzgerald's moral comments seem to be lost or merely acknowledged in passing, something which prevents the film from delivering an experience to match the novel. Gatsby may be great, but the film, I'm genuinely sorry to say, is not. 

Clapperboard Rating: * * *