The Great Gatsby and the Great DiCaprio

Rating: 9/10 (17 January 2019)

Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby was truly a film to remember. In the first scene, we are introduced with the main character, Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire). He is depressed and his doctor tells him to write a story about his memories with Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio). One of the first shot is taken with a low angle lighting, which adds a sense of suspense to the scene. I myself have read the book and thought Luhrmann did a great job at emphasizing the most important parts of the book.
I have always been intrigued by the character of Gatsby. He is an incomprehensible man with some tenacious goals. In the film, Nick Carraway moves into a Long Island cottage next door to Gatsby's colossal mansion. We, as viewers, aren't introduced to Gatsby right away, which adds mystery to his character. The only thing we see is the ring he wears on his pinky finger.
Nick receives an invitation to one of Gatsby's extravagant parties. There, he searches for Gatsby, asking everyone around him if they've seen him and if they got his invitation, but nobody really seems to care, they're just there for the party. Nick then finds Jordan Baker (Elizabeth Debicki) and is telling her about all the stories he just heard about Gatsby. But, Nick doesn't realize that he is standing right next to him. The camera then zooms in on Gatsby's ring and we are left waiting to see if Gatsby will mention anything to Nick. When he does, the camera then moves to his face and we see that his mouth is equidistant between a smile and a smirk. His blonde hair is perfectly affixed to his head, and his skin has a pink tone to it.
DiCaprio is the reason many people, including myself, see a movie. No matter what role he is given, he is able to exceed expectations and play the role better than anyone else who would've received the part. With that being said, I believe all the characters suited their roles admirably. At first, I didn't think Carey Mulligan (Daisy Fay) was best for the character she portrayed, but as the film went on I realized that she suited her role very well.
We are first introduced to Daisy when Nick goes to her and her husband Tom Buchanan's (Joel Edgerton) house for supper. She is in a room with Jordan Baker, they are playing around, laughing with the curtains blowing aimlessly in the breeze throughout the room. Then we get a close-up shot of Daisy's glorious ring, which astounds Nick. Then she raises her head up and I immediately thought she didn't correspond to her part.
But, I was later proved wrong by her extraordinary acting. She is able to be elegant, classy, and a little bit sassy, just as I imagined how the character is in the book. This stuck out the most when she sees Gatsby for the first time in five years. Gatsby asks Nick if he would invite her over for tea, so he could see the love of his life again and try to convince her to be with him.
Although, I would like to mention that I didn't like how it seems as though Gatsby is trying to use Nick in order to see Daisy again. Throughout the movie, it seemed as though he did all these things for Nick because he knew that Daisy is his cousin and he could somehow see her again through Nick. But, Nick didn't seem to mind and he was glad to do this favor for him with nothing in return.
Now, going back to the scene with Daisy and Gatsby, I thought Mulligan and DiCaprio did an excellent job at convincing the viewers that they're still in love, especially when DiCaprio gives her a tour of his house. They bonded very well in the scene and you could see the love they still have for each other in their eyes.
I believe they were the right people for each other but met at the wrong time. Gatsby was convinced that you can change the past when you really can't and that's where he went wrong. He tried so many different things to try and convince Daisy to be with him, but there was no way of changing how things ended up. Even if they did end up together, their love would have been different than the first time they met.
Overall, the film was excellent. The costume choices were outstanding and the actors were ideal for the characters they played. However, I did not like that Luhrmann added music from today to a film that is supposed to set in the 1920s, it seemed awkward and didn't really fit in well with the scenes. But, I will say it was unique and a bold move. Luhrmann and the actors did an excellent job at making the book come to life and it honestly couldn't have been any better.