It's true to the book and looks fabulous - isn't that enough?

Rating: 8/10 (4 June 2020)

"The Great Gatsby" is a 2013 drama directed by Baz Luhrmann starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire. One and a half year ago years ago, I already gave this novel adaption a watch and thought it was good, but not as outstanding as I hoped it to be. Well, it was during a phase I always expected every single DiCaprio feature to be a masterpiece, so that is what probably shattered my expectations back in the day. Another factor that contributed to my confusion and misunderstanding of the film was probably that, at that time, I haven't even heard about the original novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald this film is based on. I don't even know what lead me to give the adaption a watch without having read the book beforehand, as it is totally antithetic to my general habit of reading the source material first. Mostly, I want to do it in order to be able to draw a comparison between the two and since I felt that the character of Jay Gatsby still fascinated me immensely afterwards and strangely even more recently, I decided to purchase the original novel by Fitzgerald and give it a read. Well, even though it was in the English language (as I said, I bought the original version) I was able to comprehend and finish it within only four days. From start to the tragic ending, I was absolutely absorbed by it and it was almost impossible for me to put it down in any way. What Fitzgerald created is legitimately one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century. The lifelike characters, the dramatic conflict, the way he puts all of this in words are just wonderful and beautifully formulated. Even if I finished the novel in less than a week, the characters grew dear to my heart and I miss them. It is strange what great literature can achieve, isn't it? With the impact it made on me still in mind, I then decided to give it a rewatch under those new circumstances. To my amazement, the film did not become worse to me, quite the contrary, it became even better. It was my advantage that I knew about the story this time and it shows. While it still isn't a perfect film, I am brave enough to claim that it is technically a perfect adaptation. The characters are exactly like I pictured them in my head (while Daisy looked more like Michelle Williams in my imagination) and the actors and actresses portraying them don't just play them, they embody them. DiCaprio is brilliant as the titular mysterious millionaire, Maguire plays the role of the observing Nick Carraway wonderfully and Carey Mulligan is magnificent as the irresolute twofold beloved. Also, Elizabeth Debicki was born for the role of Jordan Baker, but the biggest surprise is the man who portrays the antagonistic brute Tom Buchanan. You probably can relate when you have a few actors that you just can't bear to see onscreen for no particular reason, in my case, one of them is Joel Edgerton. Might it be his disastrous acting in "Gods Of Egypt" (where I encountered him first), but I am genuinely unable to stand him as an actor. Not him as person, I don't know him personally and he probably is a nice guy, but as an artist I just dislike him. That is why I am so tremendously impressed by him in this film, as he managed to make me reduce my aversion towards him with just one performance. What I am trying to say is that each and every role was perfectly casted, not only in terms of outer appearance, but also their talent. They all embody the characteristics of their respective roles seemingly flawlessly, as if they had just jumped out of my brain into the screen. The authenticity and perfect depiction of the protagonists isn't the only thing this film managed to adapt superbly, it is also they story that amazes me. Let's put it this way, the film is incredibly true to its source material and shows every single scene of the novel, just. It is getting to the point that roughly more than seventy percent of the spoken dialogue is taken directly from the novel and I am asking you: What more could you wish for? You get exactly what you know from the original source and you can see all of it coming to life - literally! For hardcore fans, there are also several small details to spot that were derived from the novel that are not mentioned directly by the characters, but were extensively described in the book (Gatsby looking at Daisy for thirty seconds - they made that shot exactly as long, for instance). I guess what probably many people couldn't deal with was the admittedly weird and frantic directorial style of Luhrmann, but as a huge fan of "Moulin Rouge" I am used to his weirdness. Of course, a few scenes are run through extremely fast, especially in the beginning and that made it uncomfortable to watch, but aside from this, the rest of the story is perfectly paced in my opinion - just as it is in the novel. If there is one unforgivable transgression in this movie, it without a doubt must be the music used in this film. From all the beautiful classic songs that Fitzgerald mentioned in his novel they had to use pop music from the twenty-first century. In the name of God, why? In the case of "Moulin Rouge" it was somewhat charming that they deliberately created anachronisms by including chart hits from the eighties and nineties, but that fitted in the context of the overall surreal nature of the film, in this case it absolutely does not. It was utterly ridiculous to see the people in a serious drama that takes place in 1922 dance to "A Little Party Never Killed nobody" by Fergie. It seriously disturbed the authenticity that was build up before. Fortunately, this atrocity happened to occur only in the beginning and fades to the background from there on. Well, at least the overall style of the film makes up for this massive misstep. I mean, come on: The visual, the costumes and the cinematography masterfully capture the pompousness and fabulousness, but also the hidden vulnerability and melancholy of the story and are exactly as Fitzgerald has pictured them. The Academy Awards for the best achievement in costume design and production design are more than deserved, least to say. It isn't only that, they also managed to capture the quintessence of the conflict of Jay Gatsby who glorifies the past, is obsessed with elusive ideas and eventually dies as a martyr. Like the novel did, the ending of the film made me incredibly sad as well and makes the same disillusioning statement as the author made: Money and wealth always prevail over personality. Yes, the same social criticism that Fitzgerald shows off in this adaptation as well and still hits at the correct spots. All in all, this romantic drama is not only exceedingly wonderful to look at and caries causing eye-candy, it also knows how to treat its complex source material with immense respect (except for the choice of songs, of course) and masterly adds enough to make it more conclusive for the audience of the film (like making Nick the author of the "novel", for example). It without a doubt is exactly the same as the novel and hasn't changed a bit, and in my opinion this is what makes it so incredibly enjoyable. The thing is, while reimagining something you can never please everyone. While adapting a literary source you will never be able to please all: There are some that say that adopting the source material one-to-one simply shows the lack of creativity, there are also some thinking that heavily changing it is an expression of disrespect. Whatever you do, you just can't win. I personally think that both ways are indeed possible to master and might create a great film and in this case it is just brilliant to see an exact realization. I mean, you also don't go to a Shakespeare play and complain that it is the same as in the books, you know? To someone who deeply loves the original novel, this adaptation is perfect and deserves more appreciation. It is neither too long, nor too short (the end credits run for almost 13 minutes (!), so don't be discouraged by the runtime) and doesn't feel boring at all. Not even once. It is a perfect adaptation but no perfect movie, still I think it is heavily underrated.