What up...old sport?
Really quite good. Well, it's certainly the best Baz
Luhrmann film.
For those for whom Luhrmann's previous films were
somewhat...loud, the Great Gatsby will initially seem not dissimilar to works
like Moulin Rouge! and Romeo + Juliet (Anybody else refer to
this as Romeo Plus Juliet? No? Just
me, then.*) in its resolute gaudiness, the director pouring champagne on any
traditional definition of good taste, and drowning out the cries of the
detractors with the juxtapositional din of the soundtrack Jay-Z "executive
produced." Sometimes the music stops and, behind incessant chatter, one
can hear the director flicking through banknotes, or set and costume design
specifications.
[*I'm surprised he didn't think to add some quirky
punctuation to this one, ie. The Great
Gatsby? or The Gr8! Gatsby]
Much has been made of the film's post-modern treatment of
the "Roaring Twenties," and it truly is ludicrous; amidst the
Bacchanalian excess of the party sequences, the guests seem to pour alcohol
over people and things as much as they actually drink it. So much for
prohibition. At one point, the protagonists drive their CGI car past a vehicle
full of African-Americans who are...wait for it...splashing alcohol around and
listening to Jay-Z. Yeah, I think Luhrmann could do well to take a closer look
at the social history of the United States.
What's remarkable is that, at around the halfway point,
the film becomes good. And, I mean, really good. Its greatest scene, a
tumultuous hotel-room summit featuring all of the primary ensemble, is light on
"Luhrmannisms" and heavy on character and dialogue. When he allows
himself a brief technical flourish, towards the scene's climax, it is
particularly deserved, and especially effective.
Once the film gets into its groove, you realise that, for
example, instances of the gimmicky culture-clash soundtrack (can I just set the
record straight and say that I actually really like Jay-Z, and consider 'The
Blueprint' to be one of the 21st century's finest albums) are, in fact, few and
far between. It's like Luhrmann spends the opening portion of the film luring
his fan-base into thinking they're in their comfort zone of "ooh! look!
bright colours! shiny things! fast cars! lovely dresses!" and then decides
to actually do The Great Gatsby.
The turning point was, for me, the scene wherein Nick, at
Gatsby's request, invites Daisy Buchanan for tea. I'm sorry, but I'm not going
to explain The Great Gatsby's plot to anybody; it's a book that absolutely
everybody needs to read. I tried to adapt the aforementioned scene into
screenplay form for my A-Level English coursework, writing it in the style of a
Woody Allen comedy. The "comedy" pretence proved to be just that,
upon my realisation that Fitzgerald's masterful prose was infinitely funnier
than anything I could hope to write. There is little of the novel's bitter,
satirical humour in the picture, but this scene balances it perfectly (and, a
rare occurrence in this adaptation, relatively faithfully) with heart-wrenching
drama. DiCaprio continues his winning streak with a wonderfully charismatic and
vulnerable performance that adds immeasurably to the whole "show."
Carrie Mulligan manages to nail Daisy's shallow charm, but it is far from her
best work; disappointingly so, as she is generally excellent in everything, and was a primary reason for looking forward to
this adaptation. Toby Maguire, whilst never the most arresting screen presence,
carries the film; it would fall apart with work less solid than his.
Yet, despite its cast of the talented and the beautiful,
The Great Gatsby is a flawed film. Perhaps - ironically when one considers its
contemporary and historical context - the financiers just gave Luhrmann too
much money? Whilst it was certainly a decadent time for America's privileged
classes, and Gatsby's lower-class aspiration remains at its heart, the critical
near-consensus that it is simply an overbearing aesthetic for a novel of such
nuance and subtlety is hard to disagree with.
Oh, and I saw it in 2D. Baz Luhrmann can make a
reasonably enjoyable film, but that doesn't mean I'm going to pay him extra
money so I can put a pair of glasses over my glasses. I'm not a total asshole.
