Taking Another Look at 2013's The Great Gatsby

by Devin Caldwell

Written by F. Scott Fitzgerald in the 1920s, "The Great Gatsby" is regarded as one of the greatest novels of the 20th century, if not the greatest American novel of all time. Once its artificially extended copyright protection ran out at the end of 2020, people were clamoring for a new film adaptation. 

In fact, there had already been such an adaptation in 2013, before the copyright protection ran out. Australian director and producer Baz Luhrmann originally made a name for himself in the United States with "Moulin Rouge!" a glitzy, stylized story set in 1900s' France with contemporary music. Audiences and critics alike ate it up. 

Luhrmann brought his same brand of trademark magical realism to "The Great Gatsby." It did not have the same effect. Critics largely dismissed it as eye candy without substance and audiences gave it a pass. Nevertheless, with the benefit of hindsight, someone looking past the snazzy exterior may find that there are unexpected depths to Luhrmann's adaptation. It's worth taking a closer look at what worked, what didn't, and why. 

Casting

"The Great Gatsby" is a tale of star-crossed lovers separated by class. At the time that the novel takes place, Gatsby is a self-made millionaire who doesn't have to worry about things like inground swimming pool costs. However, he was of a lower class when he met and fell in love with socialite Daisy, but his deployment in World War I prevented their engagement. Daisy gave into to family pressure to marry Tom Buchanan, whom she doesn't love. When Gatsby came back, he made money in the hopes of persuading Daisy to leave Tom. His devotion to her eventually brings about his undoing. 

Gatsby is played by the brilliant and renowned Leonardo DiCaprio. Having started his career as a child actor and made his name as a teen heartthrob, DiCaprio has since become one of the greatest actors of his generation. Like a fine wine, DiCaprio has only gotten better with age, maturing from a seemingly impossibly attractive teen to a man with real depth, dimension, and strength of character. He has wisely chosen projects in a number of genres that challenge him as an actor and allow for continued growth. He embodies Gatsby as few actors could. 

Where the casting may have fallen short is with Carey Mulligan in the role of Daisy. A promising talent in her own right, Mulligan nonetheless may not have had the right chemistry with DiCaprio to convince the audience that she was worthy of his all-encompassing devotion. This is not Mulligan's fault; capturing the right chemistry among actors during the casting process can be tricky. 

Narration

Like the book, the movie version of "The Great Gatsby" is narrated by the character of Nick Carraway, played in the movie by Tobey Maguire. Luhrmann likely did this to create continuity with the book. However, a film is a different storytelling medium, and what is effective for a book may be limiting or intrusive in a movie. Luhrmann could have taken advantage of the objective viewpoint of the movie to go beyond the limitations of the first-person narration. Opinions vary as to whether this would have been more effective. 

Music

As with "Moulin Rouge!," the soundtrack of "The Great Gatsby" consists of contemporary songs. Unlike "Moulin Rouge!," in which the songs were performed by other artists or the actors themselves, the songs in "The Great Gatsby" were performed by the original artists. Some people found that the intentional anachronism took them out of the story. It has been suggested that it may have been more effective to have contemporary artists interpret the songs of the era in which the movie took place. Nevertheless, it is hard to overlook the hypocrisy of praising Luhrmann for using contemporary music in "Moulin Rouge!" and condemning him for the same thing in "The Great Gatsby."

The lush visuals of "The Great Gatsby" are also frequently misunderstood by critics. Far from detracting from the theme of the original novel, that an endless and meaningless search for pleasure results in lost values, Luhrmann's splashy visuals serve to underscore it.