Like the climate, things change…
I find myself in the strange position of wanting to defend Baz Luhrman’s adaptation of THE GREAT GATSBY, which I feel was lambasted with an unfair amount of vitriol by critics and bloggers alike. Not sure I understand what happened there. I am not a fan of Luhrman’s work. His movies are usually great eye candy, but also very stupid. The editing often resembles the work of a 10 year-old with ADD on his third line of cocaine. At the same time, he seems to be an unapologetic romantic – which I identify with – and he seems to always want to bring back a kind of Old Hollywood grandeur that I appreciate as well. And you have to give him credit for having the balls to take on such a classic novel – especially since everyone who has tried it before flopped. Or forget that. How about the fact that he actually wanted to make an ADULT film that wasn’t about a comic-book superhero? Sadly, that’s become such a rarity that it’s commendable in itself. He may have tarted it up in his usual way with lots of glossy CGI, a ridiculous music soundtrack, and overcaffeinated cutting, but he does in point of fact translate the novel fairly faithfully.
I agree he has bad habits as a filmmaker. I guess that is exactly why I entered the theatre with lowered expectations and found myself pleasantly surprised.
For the first fifteen or so minutes of the film, the tone was so clunky (the framing device of Nick writing the novel is a good idea, the sanitarium he’s confined to not so much) and the pace so hectic that I honestly didn’t think I would make it through the whole two hours. But then something changed. The movie slowed down considerably, settled into it’s story and told it pretty well. DiCaprio did a great job making Gatsby both enviable and tragic, with just enough insanity thrown in. Mulligan was at her most radiant and had to walk a thin line herself, showing how confused and shallow Daisy has ultimately become. I thought the whole cast did an excellent job. And certain scenes played perfectly – the climax in the hotel room where Gatsby finally confronts Daisy’s husband was gut-wrenchingly raw and riveting. I cannot imagine that scene being done any better. And it is a long, static scene that was a real act of bravery on Luhrman’s part. Or at least, a huge break from his normal hyperactivity. So what do critics do? They compliment the energy of the first half, but complain it gets boring after that. First, they attack him for his crazy amped-up style and then for being too slow and ponderous. The guy can’t win!
The bottom line is it worked for me. I was genuinely moved by it. The book was always too dry for my taste, a cold intellectual parable of the American Dream…but the movie made me FEEL the central ideas in a way I never felt them before. I respect it more now. I GET IT.
I should be embarrassed to say all this, because it makes me sound like an illiterate.
I seem to be the only person who liked the film.
Yes, the imagery was obvious and repetitive (green light, billboard eyes – we got it!), and some dialogue too (a good drinking game is to do a shot every time Leo says “Old Boy”…then call an ambulance), and yes, it is flawed, over the top, gaudy – but I still walked out emotionally satisfied and impressed.
I think the critics came to it with knives already sharpened, and I guess what bothers me is that I wish they would use those knives on the endless stream of juvenile pablum clogging up theatres and not a film that at the very least tried to adapt and ‘freshen’ a literary classic for young audiences.
Anyway, that’s just my take…
Luhrman will never be a favorite of mine, but I’m standing by him on this one.
Who knew? Strange times.
