Stay away from books I like, Ol' Sport
In this 2013 silicone abortion, Baz Luhrmann has confirmed my all encompassing judgment of modern films: if the characters have no pores, the film will have no substance.
Luhrmann has taken the deeply tragic and deeply human story of The Great Gatsby and removed every significant thematic and emotional element to make room for elaborate choreography, sexualized eye candy, and unnecessary pop-culture allusions. While these elements have their appropriate place in other films that I also don't like, they have no place here, and this is why:
The most significant theme and instance of character development in The Great Gatsby consists of Nick Carraway's eventual saturation with the vacuity of the roaring 20s' alcohol-fueled party culture and his recognition of the emptiness that lies beneath all of the noise and fabricated drama that surrounds him. Luhrmann's take on the novel places all of its emphasis on updating this flashy culture of the 20s to include rap music that glorifies bitches n' bottles culture and shifts the focus of the entire film onto its visual presentation without ever expressing the central theme of the novel with any significant force. Thus, the film itself becomes the very emptiness that Fitzgerald rejects. I do not mean this in a self-aware, meta-commentary sense but in an oblivious, totally-missed-the-point sense.
Also, the frame story involving Nick Carraway's descent into clinical alcoholism after a summer of partying is absurd and unnecessary. College freshmen take note: one summer of heavy drinking and you're ready for rehab.
There is one undeniable positive of the film, and that is Joel Edgerton's performance as Tom Buchanan. Edgerton captured and conveyed the emotionally complex character of the undermined playboy complete with the lingering scent of glory days and the infinite arrogance of the entitled.
The final punchline of all of this, which I believe speaks volumes about the workings of popular culture in general, is that the novel, The Great Gatsby, was a critical and commercial failure in Fitzgerald's lifetime. Luhrmann's Gatsby has made almost 145 million dollars. In spite of such financial success, films of this caliber are a dime-a-dozen and will all slowly sink in like manner while Fitzgerald's Gatsby stays above the currents and confirms that the novel's final lines speak not only of the efforts of individuals, but also the efforts of generations and cultures:
“We beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
Written November 19, 2013
Luhrmann has taken the deeply tragic and deeply human story of The Great Gatsby and removed every significant thematic and emotional element to make room for elaborate choreography, sexualized eye candy, and unnecessary pop-culture allusions. While these elements have their appropriate place in other films that I also don't like, they have no place here, and this is why:
The most significant theme and instance of character development in The Great Gatsby consists of Nick Carraway's eventual saturation with the vacuity of the roaring 20s' alcohol-fueled party culture and his recognition of the emptiness that lies beneath all of the noise and fabricated drama that surrounds him. Luhrmann's take on the novel places all of its emphasis on updating this flashy culture of the 20s to include rap music that glorifies bitches n' bottles culture and shifts the focus of the entire film onto its visual presentation without ever expressing the central theme of the novel with any significant force. Thus, the film itself becomes the very emptiness that Fitzgerald rejects. I do not mean this in a self-aware, meta-commentary sense but in an oblivious, totally-missed-the-point sense.
Also, the frame story involving Nick Carraway's descent into clinical alcoholism after a summer of partying is absurd and unnecessary. College freshmen take note: one summer of heavy drinking and you're ready for rehab.
There is one undeniable positive of the film, and that is Joel Edgerton's performance as Tom Buchanan. Edgerton captured and conveyed the emotionally complex character of the undermined playboy complete with the lingering scent of glory days and the infinite arrogance of the entitled.
The final punchline of all of this, which I believe speaks volumes about the workings of popular culture in general, is that the novel, The Great Gatsby, was a critical and commercial failure in Fitzgerald's lifetime. Luhrmann's Gatsby has made almost 145 million dollars. In spite of such financial success, films of this caliber are a dime-a-dozen and will all slowly sink in like manner while Fitzgerald's Gatsby stays above the currents and confirms that the novel's final lines speak not only of the efforts of individuals, but also the efforts of generations and cultures:
“We beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
Written November 19, 2013