The Great Gatsby

Trailer-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rARN6agiW7o

The Great Gatsby to me has always just been the book people read in Higher English if they didn't read Catcher In The Rye. After a late cinema trip to see it however I'm a bit gutted my English class didn't read both. I'd write that that Gatsby is 'great' as I'm sure 100 critics have already done but I really don't think that 'great' does it justice.

Dialogue isn't something that usually sticks out as being a truly memorable for me in films but Gatsby has changed that. For someone who hasn't read the book it was obviously all new to me and certain lines I won't write at risk of misquoting genuinely gave me goosebumps. It's powerful, emotional and devastatingly true to life. I understand this is more an opinion of the book than the film but how it's written is still an important factor no matter through what medium you experience Gatsby. It's a masterpiece.

Fortunately as well as having such a great novel to work with the film looks incredible as well. I always think that if a film can go over the top with it's visuals it might as well. If you want to show the most extravagant party in the roaring 20s why tone that down any? The party scenes are vibrant, exciting and really visually loud. You could say it loses a sense of reality but to be honest it fully captures how the characters are experiencing the party.

Remember a really good party you've been to when you've been really going for it on the dance floor having the time of your life full of alcohol. Everything seems far more exciting than it actually is and by shooting scenes so over the top it really helps us get into the characters' heads and feel exactly what they are feeling.

Now comes the unusual soundtrack. For a film set in the 20s you become just a bit aware at the beginning of the modern music playing over the period setting. I'm not sure how but it just seems to work. It blends with the unique visuals and brings a book written 85 years ago right into the 21st century feeling relevant and trendy. The jazz mixed with hip hop mixes the old with the new as cliche as that sounds to make the situations and characters relatable and relevant and not just something that happened in the past at another time.

I can't remember a film I've seen where I've seen as much passion and longing between two characters. The relationship between Gatsby and Daisy almost brings a tear to your eye, initially anyway. She is his everything and Leonardo Di Caprio shows the feelings of Gatsby perfectly. It's great acting performances all round actually. As much as he acts as a narrator almost for the film, Tobey Maguire puts on a great performance as Nick as well as Carey Mulligan as Daisy.

I expected to enjoy this movie and I'm glad it really delivered. I see not everyone is enjoying it as much as I did but I'm struggling to pick out flaws. To get the most of it you really need to think about what's being said and the imagery and such so it's definitely not a background-watch. Give it all your attention- it deserves it. Something beautiful has been created here.

10/10