WONDER

I just went and saw The Great Gatsby and absolutely ADORED IT. After reading the book a couple of times, I was so happy to see that Baz Lurham not only didn’t miss anything out, but directed a film that was flamboyant, exciting, gritty, corrupt, heartfelt, romantic and just plain perfect.

This is why I am so pissed off at the criticism it has been getting for being ‘over the top’ and not dealing with the tenderness of the  love story between Gatsby and Daisy - the main point of the story of course. FIRSTLY - the story is ABOUT the excitement of the booming 1920s, hence why the decade was titled BOOMING. The fast paced, detailed, colourful loud party scenes showed the careless free attitude of American citizens leaving behind the devastation of the war. SECONDLY - the love story was treated perfectly. When Gatsby and Daisy first meet, the atmosphere is completely quiet and gentle, only leaving the two characters reminiscing on their long lost love for each other, a stark contrast to the loud action-packed party scenes we see previous. Lana Del Rey’s ‘Young and Beautiful’ was played numerous times in different formats in conjunction with Gatsby and Daisy’s moments together which was absolutely wonderful as this song encapsulates their story PERFECTLY. This is way Lana is perfect and Baz Lurhmann is perfect for recognizing that Lana is perfect.

Now onto the cast. Perfect. Again. Leonardo Dicaprio as Gatsby is fantastic, his desperation to please Daisy and his hopelessness when he realizes he has lost her and everything he has built around him is perfectly balanced with his mysteriousness and glamour. Toby Maguire as Nick Carraway was another good casting choice - Nick isn’t a particularly likeable character but Maguire portrayed the role well. The Wilsons were brilliant, Jordan was brilliant and Carey Mulligan as Daisy was BRILLIANT. One critic described her as ‘little more than a pretty girl with an attractive nose’. FUCK YOU. She was mesmerising. She wasn’t likeable, yet she wasn’t supposed to be, like all of the other characters - there is noone you particularly root for in the book as there are downfalls for all of the characters. This is arguably the point.

Its makes me sad that many will read criticism of the film and not see it. GO AND SEE IT. Lurhrmanns distinctive flaboyant colourful style fits the book perfectly yet still leaves room for the raw emotions of the performances to shine through. I have genuinely nothing but praise.