Luhrmann’s ‘Gatsby’ is visual feast

The Great Gatsby is a gorgeous film.

Directed by Baz Luhrmann, best known for his movies Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge, Gatsby is nothing short of a visual feast that fully takes advantage of the promise of 3D technology. A worthy adaptation of the classic novel of the same name, Gatsby is not a great movie, but it is very good and certainly worth seeing.

The narrator and entry point of The Great Gatsby is Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire), a 29-year-old man who moves to Long Island in order to start a career on Wall Street during the roaring twenties.

Nick’s home borders that of Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio), a mysterious millionaire who regularly throws lavish parties at his sprawling mansion. Across the bay lives Daisy Buchanan (Carey Mulligan), Nick’s cousin, who resides there with her wealthy and boorish husband, Tom (Joel Edgerton).

Gatsby befriends Nick, and soon Nick finds himself drawn into Gatsby’s extraordinary life, which holds a simple secret at its core.

When adapting a novel like The Great Gatsby, which is taught in high schools and has multiple film versions, there’s a certain standard that the resulting movie has to rise to. Fortunately Gatsby more than clears this bar.

The acting here is quite good, and DiCaprio is particularly striking in the title role.

The music, on the other hand, is pretty much a draw.

Arranged by rap superstar Jay-Z, Gatsby’s soundtrack features songs from a wide variety of contemporary artists. Yet, although these musical choices mesh well with the film’s decadent 1920s setting, there were only a few times I really felt transported by them.

In terms of the screenplay, the framing device it utilizes is quite effective in revealing the narrative. There’s also an awareness and acknowledgment of the novel’s text that I really liked. And, while I wasn’t crazy about some of the choices made towards the end of the film, I think most of the essential elements of the classic story were preserved and presented well.

What really makes The Great Gatsby stand out, however, are it’s visuals.

The cinematography is nothing short of Oscar caliber. From wild party scenes to quiet personal moments, the camera is truly the most effective storyteller here. In particular, the introduction of DiCaprio as Gatsby is spectacular.

Luhrmann’s direction also deserves a lot of credit as well.

This is a film with a special focus on both space and time, and Luhrmann’s keen awareness of both really adds to its quality. A great example of this is a party in Tom Buchanan’s apartment, where what could have been a simple montage scene instead becomes a lush fusion of music, cinematography and action that clearly highlights the guests’ blissful and intoxicated state.

This is also a movie you need to see in 3D. The entire film was shot in the format, and the direction and artistic sensibility fully take advantage of this. Many directors don’t know how to effectively utilize this new technology, but Luhrman is not one of them, and every shot proves it.

It’s movies like this that truly show the promise of 3D, and while I’m often underwhelmed by the contributions 3D cinematography makes to a movie, this is not one of those times, and it’s well worth the extra ticket price.

Unlike the book upon which it is based, The Great Gatsby is not a timeless work of art. It is, however, very entertaining, and the kind of film best seen in theaters. This and Iron Man 3 have marked a turnaround for what was a very disappointing 2013 movie season, and I can only hope the trend continues.

So, go out and buy a ticket to The Great Gatsby. Whether you’ve read the book or not, you will enjoy yourself.

Posted by Bera B. Dunau on May 16, 2013. Filed under Arts and Entertainment,Columns,Movie Reviews,Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry