The Great Gatsby

[author_by_night]

First, let me share my own experience with Gatsby. I read it in high school grade, and while I liked it enough, I didn't quite appreciate it as much as I probably would have had I read it when I was older. Still, it stuck with me. I don't remember everything, but I remembered a lot of it.

As an artistic adaptation, this movie is stunning. You have to remove yourself a little or you'll become overwhelmed by the speed, the chaos, but in a brilliant way that's the whole point. Nick loses himself in the world and ends up despondent, because it's too much.  I'm fairly confident that alone will get it nominated for it an Academy Award.

That said, it isn't the most faithful movie adaptation. It does a pretty good job, but I still felt they missed some opportunities.

First, Daisy was almost too sympathetic. Now maybe some of this was because a novel works differently; in the novel she didn't outwardly act more sympathetic (to my recollection), but I still understood that she was stuck in a horrible situation. I felt bad for her while also acknowledging her shortcomings. It's harder to show that on screen, where there's no text to infer from. Still, Daisy didn't feel nearly haughty enough; she just seemed trapped and confused. Which is truer to her character as we learn more about her, but not true to how she is immediately perceived.

They also could have done more with Jordan, but I understood why they didn't. Still, I was waiting for her character to be more wild and erratic than Jordan in the film was; again, I didn't recognize the character. The same is true for all of them, honestly - none of them felt like the characters I remembered.

Then there was the modern music, which I had mixed feelings about. To be honest, it is probably hard to sell the general audience on songs anyone under 100 is too young to remember.  I can understand why the filmmakers may have then been more comfortable with limiting the 1920s music and the jazz. (Although honestly, with the popularity of Downtown Abbey and Mad Men, it seems absurd that they'd assume young people would be that turned off. But Hollywood doesn't give audiences much credit, and it is true that not too many people are going to buy music their grandparents would be too young to remember.) I would mostly argue that the great thing about music is that it doesn't necessarily have to be about a specific time or place, nor true to it; we sing old songs about dead people and apply them to weddings all the time. Is it really so wrong to do the reverse? On the other hand, Chicago showed us that it's possible to be true to an era while also giving things a modern touch. The difference of course is that Chicago is a musical, meaning they actually have room for that. But still, there was perhaps a missed opportunity there.

Although the touch with the therapist definitely wasn't true to the book, I actually liked it, because in my head it was more like the therapist was Fitzgerald, getting into Nick's head. But maybe that's just the writer in me.

Ultimately, this movie is mainly an artistic venture. The characters aren't always true to who they are in the book, and if historical accuracy is very important to you, be warned that there isn't much here (although in some respects it seems surprisingly accurate - it just depends on when you're looking and whom you're looking at). Still, if you like Baz Luhrmman for his art, The Great Gatsby does not disappoint.

Comments

[sherrilina.livejournal.com]

Interesting to see your thoughts--I felt it WAS a very faithful adaptation (at least as far as movies generally go)--maybe Daisy and some of the others were a little off (though Nick and Tom were perfect, IMO. And so many of the little details I remember and my favorite lines were preserved in it. I think it was very faithful to the spirit of the boom as well. I actually didn't like the psych framing as much though--I didn't think it was necessary. As for character development, was their really much in the book in the span of the events of the novel, tbh? Wasn't the whole point that they didn't really change, except Nick (who changed hwre too). I thought they showed the way Gatsby was faking being upper class pretty well, etc.

As for the modern music, I like that they still incorporated some 20s tunes, and I thought it worked--moreso than in Marie Antoinette for example. I loved it so much I plan to see it for a second time with a friend tonight...

[author-by-night.livejournal.com]

All good points. I definitely agree that the movie was faithful to the spirit. And there were definitely parts where the movie was actually surprisingly faithful - having the entire room Daisy was in be white? That was brilliant.

Also, I think character development may have been a poor choice of words, because you're right, the characters never really do change even in the book, and that is the point.

[effervescent.livejournal.com]

I think Baz Luhrmann just likes sticking modern music in other times (Moulin Rouge) - or changing the time of the events entirely, like Romeo and Juliet...

I really enjoyed it, though. It's that sort of artistic spectacle that's fun to watch.

[sea_thoughts]

I'm looking forward to seeing this movie: I always like Baz Luhrman's style and given how much of this story is about style and substance, it seems like a perfect marriage of text and director.

[author-by-night.livejournal.com]

Oh, if you're a Baz Luhrman fan you'll be in heaven. :)