Review 4

GREAT GATSBY(2013)

Director - Baz Luhrmann
Producer - Baz Luhrmann, Douglas Wick, Lucy Fisher, Catherine Martin, Catherine Knapman
Writer - Baz Luhrmann, Craig Pearce
Composer - Craig Armstrong
Genre - Drama
Release Year - 2013
Country - USA, Australia
Run Time - 143 minutes

Lead Actors:
Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby
Tobey Maguire as Nick Carraway
Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan
Joel Edgerton as Tom Buchanan
Isla Fisher as Myrtle Wilson
Adelaide Clemens as Catherine
Elizabeth Debicki as Jordan Baker
Amitabh Bachchan as Meyer Wolfsheim
Jason Clarke as George Wilson
Max Cullen as Owl Eyes
Brendan Maclean as Klipspringer
Jack Thompson as Nick Carraway's Doctor, Walter Perkins

Plot:
In a summer Nick Carraway moved to work as a bond salesman in New York. Nick rented a house in West Egg, a suburb of New York where the "new rich" lived. Nick graduated from Yale and has connections in East Egg. One night Nick went to East Egg to have dinner with his cousin, Daisy and her husband Tom Buchanan, a classmate of Nick's at Yale. There, he met Jordan Baker, a beautiful and cynical professional golfer. Jordan tells Nick that Tom had an affair. Returning home from dinner, Nick saw his mysterious neighbor, Jay Gatsby, holding out his arms toward the Long Island Sound. Nick looked out across the water, but saw only a green light blinking at the end of a dock on the far shore. A few days later, Tom invited Nick to a party in New York City. On the way, Tom picked up his mistress,Myrtle Wilson, the wife of George Wilson, the owner of an auto shop. At the party, Myrtle got drunk and made fun of Daisy. Tom punched her and broke her nose. Nick also attended one of Gatsby's extravagant Saturday night parties. He ran into Jordan there, and met Gatsby for the first time. Gatsby privately told Jordan a story she described as the most "amazing thing." After going to lunch with Gatsby and a shady business partner of Gatsby's named Meyer Wolfsheim, Nick learnt one story: Gatsby had met and fell in love with Daisy before World War I, and bought his West Egg mansion just to be near her. At Gatsby's request, Nick arranged a meeting for them. The two soon rediscovered their love. Daisy invited Nick and Gatsby to lunch with her, Tom, and Jordan. During the lunch, Tom realized Daisy and Gatsby were having an affair. He insisted they all went to New York City. As soon as they gathered at the Plaza Hotel, though, Tom and Gatsby got into an argument about Daisy. Gatsby told Tom that Daisy had never loved Tom and had only ever loved him. But Daisy could only admit that she loved them both, and Gatsby was stunned. Tom then revealed that Gatsby had made his fortune by bootlegging alcohol and other illegal meant. Tom then dismissively told Daisy to go home with Gatsby, since he knew Gatsby wouldn't bother her anymore. They left in Gatsby's car, while Tom, Nick, and Jordan followed sometime later. As they drived home, Tom, Nick, and Jordan came upon an accident: Myrtle was hit and killed by a car. Tom realized that it had been Gatsby's car that struck Myrtle, and he cursed Gatsby as a coward for driving off. But Nick learnt from Gatsby later that night that Daisy had been actually behind the wheel. George Wilson, distraught, was convinced that the driver of the yellow car that hit Myrtle was also her lover. In the afternoon, Nick had a kind of premonition and found Gatsby shot to death in his pool. Wilson's dead body was a few yards away. Nick organized a funeral, but none of the people who were supposedly Gatsby's friends came. And even Daisy left the city with her family, she and Tom asked their butler not to tell where they were and when they would return.

To begin with, it's necessary to say that this movie for Baz Luhrmann is a bright returning after Romeo+Juliet, Moulin Rouge. The adaptation itself is vivid images of the 20s, illegal whiskey, jazz, frantic dances. Nick Carraway, a "narrator", became a witness of the lives of several people, he was a observer, and a participant. Jay Gatsby was a man of mystery. Everybody saw him only as a rich man, who arranged exellent parties, but nobody knew him as a real man. Nick Carraway was his true friend.  Daisy remained for him as his meaning of the life.Gatsby was a dreamer, hopeless romantic, who died with the name of his favorite on the lips. For me Daisy was a changeable, amorous woman, she was a image of American society of that time. I was pleasantly surprised with musical accompaniment, especially, the idea to combine the music of 20s with modern hip-hop.My favorite songs Crazy In Love and Back to Black appeared in a new variation. As many other people I didn't understand the usage of 3D format for this movie, maybe it's an advertising gimmick. But I think without it the film is a qualitative adaptation, and a perfect job of the whole film crew.