Glitz and Glamour with beautiful Subtext!

Rating: 8/10 (13 May 2013)

The Great Gatsby is explosively vibrant from its beginning to its end. Baz Luhrmann takes his stunning artistry to F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel, projecting the lavishness and decadence of the roaring 20s onto the screen with a modern soundtrack. A bold choice, perhaps, but make no mistake, Luhrmann's Gatsby is a wonderfully deep and poignant picture about love, lust, and greed that bursts onto the screen in vibrant detail.
Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Jay Gatsby, a reclusive millionaire living in a lavish mansion, who dazzles all of New York with opulent parties weekend to weekend. Yet, for all of this, Gatsby himself is a bit of a recluse- few of his party guests even know who he is, fewer still know anything about him. DiCaprio gives a splendid performance as the enigmatic Gatsby, always hinting that there is more to him beneath the surface and always seeming that, despite the opulence that he surrounds himself with, he is a smaller man with smaller dreams. No, not necessarily smaller- but closer to heart.
The film is told through the eyes of young Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire), who moves in next door to Gatsby after graduating from Yale. Maguire, too, gives a good performance here, and he was perfectly cast for this role- he has a great wide-eyed, always-in-wonder stare through which the audience can be introduced into the decadence of Gatsby's world. He always seems a bit out of place and a bit blown away by what's going on around him and the character is better for it. He is captivated not by the money and status that surround him, but by the humanity of the people living it- Carraway is by far the most "human" and relate-able character in the film.
Gatsby's story, ultimately, is a story of love, whether it be the love of another person or the love of wealth, status, and power. Luhrmann contrasts the two beautifully against one another in Gatsby and Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton). Both are wealthy, but in terms of set design and even in the performances, it is obvious that it isn't wealth and status that are important to Gatsby, while these are everything to Buchanan. Their beautiful mansions, on opposing shores, are a reflection of this.
Much has been made of Luhrmann's use of modern hip-hop music as a backdrop for Gatsby's tale, with Jay-Z serving as an executive producer on the film- this is a stylistic choice that works for a few reasons. One, it gives the film and the story a timelessness- not many people alive today can relate to living in the Jazz age, when American decadence reached its pinnacle. Two, it draws a parallel with the decadence of the modern day, particularly in the hip-hop culture- whether this was intentional or not is anyone's guess, but the correlation is there. It gives the lavishness of the life lived by Gatsby a fantastic musical backdrop and gives the film a vibrant signature all its own.
The whole film is, of course, a slow unraveling of the mystery of exactly who Jay Gatsby is. Leo plays Gatsby as coy, carefully guarded, never fully revealing anything about himself to anyone. His is a tragic tale, a man who lost the woman he loved and would do anything to get her back- in the end, of course, Daisy (Carey Mulligan) has forgotten all about him, more in love with status and money. Real, human love is tossed aside and left behind in the wake of money and power- Luhrmann's film does a great job of exploring this theme, most particularly the loss of humanity and the battle for love. Carraway describes Gatsby as being filled with a limitless hope. His tales of his amazing exploits at war are echoed in his quest to reclaim Daisy- fighting single-handedly against impossible odds to defeat a powerful enemy. His hope is indeed limitless, and his is the hope to reclaim his lost love and live forever in romance, a hope that is dashed by the greed and want for status, money, and power. Gatsby is rich, but his money, ultimately, means nothing to him.
Luhrmann's direction is meant to lose the viewer in the tumult of Gatsby's world (and heart)- indeed, there are times when it seems rather directionless, and the over-the-top production seems about to crash down on itself. This choice feels deliberate, as Luhrmann wants the audience lost in the world as Carraway is- his vision is fantastically realized, and even if it comes off a bit stagey at times, it is still larger-than-life and layered deep. At the center of it all, in the chaos of the opulent parties and the wealth literally poured away, stands Gatsby. DiCaprio easily shoulders the weight of the film and gives a great performance, begging the audience to look closer and peel back the layers that encompass him to get to the ultimate truth.