The Great Gatsby (2013 film)

1920s.

Metaphoric use of it.

Jazz might represent the time period, but it certainly does not represent the tone or mood of the piece. When I think of Great Gastby, I think of the rampant misuse of the American Dream; which is absolutely perfect for the use of a hip-hop soundtrack.

And hip hop doesn't have to be rap. They might add some 20s style flourishes to it.

Like I said, I'm going to be cautiously optimistic and hope it works, but it's still really iffy. Personally, if someone is doing a period piece, I feel they should try to keep with the spirit of the period unless they specify otherwise their intention to deviate from it and give a good reason for it, but...eh.

Being a high school student, I started my obligatory reading of this a few days ago.

I'm only two chapters in, and already I love it. It's probably the best book I've had to read so far this year. And to be honest, I can see why they thought Baz Luhrmann would be good for this. The descriptions are very clever and stylistic, and if anyone could do justice to them, it would probably be him.

Double posting because NEW TRAILER!

Apparently the music in this one is the stuff that's actually going to be in the movie.

Watched the new trailer. Even though I posted a glowing review of Leo DiCaprio on his page, I have admit there's another thing he can't do well: scream.

edited 4th Apr '13 11:34:07 PM by Tuckerscreator

Hell, much as I love Shutter Island, I still can never take that scene in which (MAJOR SPOILER) he is holding his dead daughter in his arms after realizing his wife drowned her because his scream of agony sounds so bad.

Repost because the above link is blocked.

...I don't know how to feel about it now. For one, if this is the music that's supposed to be in it, it seems even less fitting than the music in Romeo + Juliet.

For another, I still can't buy Leo as Gatz. Much as I love the guy, it just doesn't seem like he is able to adopt the right persona to fit the character. I understand that all of his mannerisms are supposed to come off as affected and all, but...eh.

Still, the sets and all look amazing, and everything else looks fine. I suppose I should still reserve judgement, but now I'm even more apprehensive. I'm still dying to see this movie, but cautiously so now.

They've made a mash-up of Daniel Day-Lewis yelling. Perhaps good ol' Leo deserves one too.

Only time where I thought his scream sounded fine was in Inception, because it was supposed to sound conflicted and frustrated... if they hadn't immediately cut to him speaking perfectly calm again immediately after. Oh narm.

As his acting as Gatsby, I don't have much to judge yet. Robert Redford looked just like how I thought Gatsby would and yet he didn't act him well. Leo has a chance to do much better.

edited 4th Apr '13 11:39:26 PM by Tuckerscreator

Oddly enough, the only time that I've ever been able to buy his yelling is in Titanic, since it sounded so much more natural and spontaneous (and maybe because he was still a kid then, so it fit the kind of character he was playing better...and it was a scream of joy, not of pain).

Honestly, I've seen the Redford movie, but I can barely ever remember much from it aside from the "touring the house" and "George shoots Gatsby in his pool" scenes. It was all very forgettable to me.

edited 4th Apr '13 11:47:01 PM by 0dd1

Same here. Just those parts and a puppy miraculously becoming an adult dog in just one evening.

Yeah, I got to that part and... yeah, that was not a great yell.

Also, I don't quite remember Tom badgering Gatsby so much about his standing in the book. And hey, there's T.J Eckleburg.

edited 5th Apr '13 3:36:35 AM by edvedd

I'm excited for the soundtrack. Florence + the Machine and Lana Del Rey on the same album? Top of my wishlist!

The music definitely sounds good, but it just doesn't fit this film. Not anachronistically, but thematically. The Lana Del Rey song sounds like something left over from one of the Twilight soundtracks, to put it cruelly. When I read Gatsby, I didn't see it as a love story. I saw it as a story about an unhealthy and ultimately destructive obsession. The latest trailer touched on that a bit, but not by very much.

See, the anachronisms really bother me the most with the music. I feel like if you're doing a serious period piece, it doesn't make sense to include anachronisms. If you want to include stuff that wasn't in that time, update the setting. I won't say it worked for Romeo + Juliet, but something similar to that yet more skillfully executed would be fine by me. Contemporary music in a movie based on a story that pretty much is said to have defined 1920s America? No thanks.

Besides, I was hoping we could have a jazz revival in popular music just like what The Sting did to ragtime.

NOTE: I'm not saying it can't work, but it certainly isn't the wisest move in my estimation. Reserving judgement, like I've said, but being cautious.

edited 6th Apr '13 10:44:41 PM by 0dd1

It's not a period piece. Luhrman never makes period films, just films set in historical times — even Romeo + Juliet wasn't set in the 90's. He makes Camp.

edited 7th Apr '13 12:35:07 AM by Nicknacks

That's not convincing me any more. It's actually kind of dissuading me. I don't have anything against camp, but there are some places where camp doesn't work. Like The Great Gatsby.

edited 7th Apr '13 1:37:44 AM by 0dd1

Why not?

Because it's a criticism of the campy life of the rich and fabulous in the Roaring Twenties.

Not to mention how it is a very serious story with a very serious tone. Camp and seriousness don't mix very well.

It depends on how you do the camp.

for example, Romeo + Juliet works very well as a standalone, and is a decent introduction to Shakespeare. Batman and Robin, on the other hand, works not well at all.

Well, unless it's shown as gaudy and shallow, a campy director does not work with a story like Gatsby.

so if you have 90% camp, 10% subtlety, does it still work?

No.

...I guess I don't understand why it doesn't work? Because most of The Great Gatsby is Gatsby's camp imagining of how rich people live and not getting that his class will forever exclude him from being one of them. And then he dies.

...should I spoiler that?