The Great Gatsby

This one can be easily termed as a classic. And it shows under classics on Amazon.  I tried to download and speed-read but I guess there wasn’t enough time.  I was expecting The Great Gatsby to release only next week.  I guess I need to be a bit more cued in.  But I must say that, 10 minutes into the movie, I thought it was actually true to the book – because that is all I could read before walking into the movie.

One thing that all of you must keep yourself aware of before you decide to watch Great Gatsby is that this version has been directed by Baz Luhrmann.  Those who are familiar with his work will know that every movie has 2 versions – the normal one and the Baz Luhrmann one.  Therefore if you are not a Baz fan then I would strongly recommend that you avoid The Great Gatsby.  I am a fan and I totally loved it.

 

One way to describe Baz’s way of making a movie would be to call him the Bollywood of Hollywood.  All of his movies are larger than life.  They have every conceivable colour in the world.  They have every inconceivable colour in the world.  They have music that is current but adapted or remixed to the period of the movie.  They have song and dance at the drop of a hat.  They have sets that cost millions.

 

But deep at the heart of every Baz Luhrmann movie is that sincere dream of actually painting a picture that is mammoth.  And truck loads of attention to detail – something that our movie makers could take a leaf from.  Even a small reference to a black and white photograph that had to be “photoshopped” but it is done so to perfection. And that’s what makes his movies such a joy to watch.

 

And like most Baz Luhrmann movies, the performances are superb.  Leonardo DiCaprio’s entry prompted me do a Chennai Super Kings #whistlepodu number.  The only thing that stopped me was probably better sense.  But honest to god, that was some entry – one of the finest I have seen in cinema of late.  Baz even gets an otherwise average Tobey Maguire to act out of his skin.

 

I will not talk much about the story but it will suffice to mention that it has loads of drama but at the end of the day it is a love story.  It is the love story of a man described by the author F Scott Fitzgerald as, “A person who has more hope in the world than anyone else”.  A love story of a man who has waited five years to get back with the love of his life.  In short – don’t miss it.  8 on 10.

 

Watch the trailer on http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2949817881/?ref_=tt_ov_vi