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 One
might reckon the reunion of director Baz Luhrmann and star Leonardo
DiCaprio seventeen years after their collaboration on William
Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet shot both of them into the international
stratosphere, would be a momentous occasion. Not ones to hedge their
bets, they’ve come together for Luhrmann’s audacious take on what many
consider the greatest American novel, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great
Gatsby.
The
party’s long been over and Nick Carraway is still experiencing the
hangover. Whilst undergoing treatment, Carraway’s psychiatrist suggests
Nick put pen to paper to express those moments and figures that loom so
large in his mind. Nick recalls his first overwhelming thoughts on
moving to New York City and burrowing away in a tiny cabin on Long
Island as his own writer’s retreat. This early playground for New
York’s wealthiest includes Nick’s cousin, Daisy Buchanan, who lives
across the bay in a gigantic mansion with her philandering husband.
There is also the mysterious next door neighbour, whose outrageous,
decadent parties turn out half of New York City; none of whom seem too
bothered that they’ve never laid eyes on their generous host. Nick
receives an invitation to one of these weekly, over-the-top bacchanals
and is introduced to the surprisingly youthful, charming man with all
the disposable income. It turns out Jay Gatsby isn’t exactly a stranger
and the entire point of the extravagant walk-in shindigs and his very
choice of location was to be nearer to Daisy. Having Nick in the
picture facilitates Gatsby’s ultimate goal of winning back the woman he
loved and lost whilst seeking his fortune. Aided by the fascinated
Nick, the single-minded determination that brought Gatsby his boundless
wealth might not be enough to persuade Daisy to free herself from the
gilded cage the security of marriage - however distasteful - to old
money has assured her.
From
the looming, golden art deco titles that initially draw us into the
story, one knows that the boundlessly aesthetic eye of Baz Luhrmann will
make this a gorgeous ride. Luhrmann brought the saturated neon of Miami
to his Romeo + Juliet and the lush velvets and frills of the Belle
Epoque for Moulin Rouge. Heck, he even turned Hugh Jackman into a
natural landscape in Australia. As expected, The Great Gatsby is a
feast for the eyes; the art deco, shining monochromes, smartly cut suits
and flapper fashion are a perfect palette for Luhrmann, who goes camera
sweep crazy with his first 3D feature. One might also predict he’d make
the most of the wild dances and musical background of the period.
However, similar to Moulin Rouge, instead of opting for the music of
the era, the soundtrack comes courtesy of executive producer Jay-Z, Mrs.
Carter, Will.I.Am and other contemporaries (Including old-timey
renditions of Beyoncé’s Crazy in Love {by Emeli Sandé} and Roxy Music’s
Love is the Drug by Bryan Ferry himself) to give us a modern
comparison to the savage, thumping jazz that made the Twenties roar.
Another contrast is the complete aimlessness of the flappers and
well-to do in this piece that seems to reflect today’s generation of
yuppies and hipsters in their heedless, almost desperate search for more
thrills, deeper debauchery and higher highs. Sadly, it’s the only note
of resonance in the film, because the themes and morals in F. Scott’s
Fitzgerald’s original story fall to second place behind the insistent
visuals and Luhrmann’s native quirkiness. The inexorable dimming of the
Lost Generation’s Flaming Youth is narrowed down solely to the love
story of Daisy and Gatsby, turning it into a rather ordinary tale of a
girl attracted to a boy from the wrong side of the tracks. There is
potential for so much more that simply bubbles up then fades away.
Through his own actions and the lack of gravity with which he’s written,
our literal and sometimes awkward narrator, Nick, is a sieve. His
relationship with Gatsby, who never truly confides in him and who he
really knows nothing about, feels rather flimsy. It’s less a friendship
and more like the blind adoration of a fanboy, and so Nick’s display of
devotion at the film’s end seems overwrought. The casting of Nick and
Gatsby is interesting in that Tobey Maguire and Leonardo DiCaprio
famously spent much of their early adulthood as running buddies,
carousing in clubs across both coasts with DiCaprio the more famous and
sought after; very like the difference in regard between Gatsby and
Nick. Nick is content to trail in Gatsby’s wake; starstruck by all the
ostentatious glamour, influential connections and bottomless spending.
He purposely doesn’t ask too many questions and is only too happy to be
of service when Gatsby clumsily recruits Nick’s assistance in wooing his
unhappily married cousin. As Gatsby, Leonardo DiCaprio shimmers like
all the chrome, lacquer and gold leaf around him; affable and strangely
distant. His performance veers sometimes too near to Gatsby being less
of an eccentric than mentally irregular with an oddness that is never
addressed. Carey Mulligan makes a wan if not entirely fragile flower as
Mrs. Buchanan and her naturally sad eyes perfectly convey Daisy’s
existential turmoil once Gatsby reenters her life. Joel Edgerton as the
buffoonish, cheating Tom Buchanan represents the class war at its worst,
seething with barely-controlled contempt for the nouveau riche upstart
from nowhere that now threatens his happy home, and seems astounded at
the idea that Daisy’s happiness matters. Isla Fisher as Buchanan’s
low-rent mistress is decked out in the image of the ultimate flapper,
Clara Bow, with flaming red curls, scarlet kewpie-doll lips and a
honking accent straight out of a Bowery Boys comedy. Stunning in draped
black beaded gowns as fellow Gatsby enabler, Jordan Baker, Elizabeth
Debicki’s impressive features resemble an art deco statue and is
fascinating to look at, but like most of the strong aspects of the film,
gets washed away in Daisy and Gatsby’s wake. An almost campy amount of
star power is injected by Indian icon Amitabh Bachchan’s tiny role as a
shady racketeer pal of Gatsby’s, and a too-small measure of gravitas
comes courtesy of Jason Clarke as the blue-collar mechanic cuckolded and
flummoxed by Tom Buchanan.
Where
Luhrmann does go right in his film - besides his impeccable production
values - is working up a romance so fevered, it rivals the swept-up
passions of Romeo + Juliet. Even if we’re not entirely sure of Daisy
and Gatsby’s future, Luhrmann’s reunion of the two lovers is a whirlwind
of materialism and the dizzying wealth that Gatsby fought so hard to
provide for his love.
The
glamour and shallowness of the period is almost too well reflected in
the lightweight narrative of this adaptation. The audience won’t come
away knowing much or caring overly about these characters. It’s
lightweight as a Twinkie, yet equally delicious. Baz Luhrmann’s vision
of the Roaring Twenties is dazzling as a purely sensory piece of sight
and sound. So many right ingredients for such a hollow result doesn’t
stop The Great Gatsby from entertaining and being worth viewing on the
big screen as a gorgeous, glittering work of visual art.
~ The
Lady Miz Diva
May 10th
2013
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