Selasa, 19 September 2017

Film Review: The Great Gatsby


It was over-the-top, the music did not match the time (at all), and it deviated from the initial story, but it wasn't bad for a 2013 film about Fitzgerald's Jazz Age. Actually, it was precisely what I expected it to be.

There is no better Gatsby than Robert Redford, but DiCaprio did a job worthy of a silver medal. Mulligan was a convincing Daisy but the audience hardly got a taste of her talent because most of her big scenes were drowned out by her male counterparts. I would normally be upset, but this is exactly what Fitzgerald was going for so I'll refrain from criticizing that. Mulligan's Daisy had much less of the allure and dazzle than Fitzgerald's Daisy, who is probably impossible to bring into reality by anyone except perhaps Marilyn Monroe. To me she would be the perfect Daisy to Redford's Gatsby.

Maguire was... I'm not sure what to make of his Carraway. On one hand, it was a different interpretation of what I expected in the novel and it worked, but on the other hand, he did little to separate his persona from the Peter Parker days. I pictured Carraway to be a less flashy, shy, but also intelligent and Maguire certainly did that, but at the same time, the wisdom Carraway held in the books was absent in these films. Is it because the films were emphasizing the visuals too much to understand the substance of the story? I'm not sure. I will say that I'm not disappointed.

In addition, Jason Clarke, though playing a small role as Wilson, did a fantastic job at portraying Wilson's grief.

The film was very visual, and I'm glad that the director took a that angle with telling the story because, first, it was reflective of the time period in which the film was made, and second, it gave Fitzgerald a little more credit because someone is making a big deal about his story. As I mentioned before, I think that some of the intrinsic value of the book was lost with the film... The main symbols were kept, the biggest of them are the green light and the eyes of TJ Eckleburg.

The film is certainly worth a watch, and you might enjoy it, but I Fitzgerald would be disappointed to see his work in this state.

Nazzy

Tidak ada komentar:

Posting Komentar