Beautiful shallowness

Rating: 5/10 (22 May 2013)

This is a film that is a complete triumph of style over content - beautifully produced with absolutely no depth whatsoever. However, I'd go and see it again just for the beauty - both visual and sound. The sets' recreation of the art deco period is absolutely marvellous, and Lurhman's use of the camera to move through space is truly excellent. In addition, trying to show how current jazz was then through the use of modern music was quite inspired.
However, once again, we are stuck with the modern fixation in film and television on having absolutely no characters one can have any empathy, or merely sympathy, with. Gatsby is a totally deluded liar and crook, Carraway is a mere bystander and leech, Daisy is a vapid excuse for a human being who gets upset because someone becomes justifiably angry.
It is clear from the Redford version of the film that at least two of these characters can be made sympathetic, but, as I said above, it doesn't seem to be "cool" for film-makers to that any more. However, I'm clearly outside the norm with this opinion, as the really high score shows, so I doubt that I'm going to change any producer's opinion, since it seems to reflect the zeitgeist of our modern world.