First of all I would like to apologize for my absence as of late, sometimes life demands to be lived. I'm not going to make excuses, rather just explain that I had a busy end of the semester as well as a few family commitments. At the end of the day, as much as I love this blog, my grades and my loved ones had to come first. But now i'm back! With how busy i've been I haven't read anything to review, so i'm going to review The Great Gatsby film which I saw on Saturday.
I had a strong sense I would love The Great Gatsby film before I saw it because it was directed by one of my favorite directors (Baz Luhrmann), it had an incredible cast, and the soundtrack was bangin'. I thought the costumery and setting matched the over the top, new money mindset of the roaring 20's. I was over the moon about Leonardo DiCaprio playing Jay Gatsby and Carey Mulligan playing Daisy Buchanan, I thought they each suited and portrayed their roles perfectly. The cinematography in this film is something currently being debated and generally has not gone over well. I'm not sure what critics were expecting of the film, knowing it was being shot by Luhrmann, but it lived up to my every expectation. It had his whimsical appeal, and a dash of the frenzied chaos that makes his films iconic. Some have argued that this made it difficult to take the film seriously, but I disagree. The story is being told from the perspective of a character who was once wide eyed and bewildered by this new lifestyle he was witnessing and is now disenchanted and severely depressed, I don't know how anyone would expect the story to then be portrayed as if he were calm and sound of mind. My one complaint of the film, and it is a minor one, is that I feel they could have found a better fit for Nick Carraway. Tobey Maguire just didn't do it for me, I felt he was too monotone to be playing the character. His awkward style brought a funny element to certain scenes, but overall I would have liked to see someone else in the role. I felt his monotone voice and personality made some of the scenes, necessary for building the story and character development but not exactly exciting, drag.
Overall I loved the film and want to see it again as soon as possible I would recommend it to everyone, though I do think you get more out of it if you've read the book first!
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