Gatsby!

 So, I'm a huuuuuge "Baz from Oz" Luhrmann junkie. As in, no matter how poorly reviewed his movie actually is, I'll still swoon for it. Remember that train-wreck known as Australia? I. LOVED. IT. It got poor to mixed reviews and more or less flopped on this side of the Pacific. It was criticized for being too long, too unfocused, too melodramatic. But, it absolutely moved me. By God, every time the crazy cute kid's eyes twinkled and he magically whispered, "I sing you to me, Mrs. Boss," my heart swelled and exploded. (The movie also made me an emotional mess, and I ugly sobbed like Claire Danes in a dramatic role.) I've already mentioned how I feel about his 1990s Romeo + Juliet. And don't even get me started on the masterpiece known as Moulin Rouge. I could devote a whole month's worth of blog posts describing how much I love that movie. Seriously, I think I might have a Baz problem. Hello, my name is Yankee Belle. And I'm a Baz Luhrmann addict.

Baz from Oz's newest flick is an adaptation of one of the most widely assigned books in English Lit classes across the country-- the one, the only, the great The Great Gatsby. Full disclosure: I'm not a fan of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel. Shocking, isn't it? Ride me off the interwebs on a rail, berate me, do what you will. When I first read the novel as a bookish sophomore in high school, I couldn't find anything appealing about the so-called "Great American Novel" (whatever that means). Daisy was too unlikeable, Gatsby was too cray cray, and Nick Carraway... well, I just thought Nick was sad, pathetic, and boring as hell. So when I heard that my preciousssss Baz from Oz was producing yet another adaptation of this jazz-age novel (see: 1926, 1949, 1974, 2000, and 2002), I was torn. I hated the material, but loved the director.

As it happens, I was pleasantly surprised with The Great Gatsby. I liked it. I think I'm in the minority of people who liked it, but I really, really liked it. Yes, it's flawed. Yes, it's clunky at times. Yes, I still find Daisy absolutely insufferable. But, Luhrmann did what Luhrmann does best: like a bottle of chilled, irresistible champagne, the film is over-the-top and bubbly, and it pops and explodes with the thrill, chaos, and vitality of the Jazz Age. Indeed, the film is drunk on its own glamour and splendour, gaily Charlestoning to the rhythm and sounds of an insulated, surreal world entirely of its own making. The (in)famous party scenes that punctuate the novel are overwhelming and boisterous on screen, reminding the viewer that, yes, Baz Luhrmann knows what he's doing. Excess is everywhere, and he throws his audience right into it.

Surprisingly, this is a very faithful adaptation; in fact, it's almost devotional and reverential. As the film opens, the audience sees a beautifully wrought art deco title of the film. We are hurtled through it and progress towards a green light in the very center of the screen, and the light expands and winks at us as we approach it without ever reaching it. Anyone who's ever read Gatsby knows the importance of this light, that flickering specter that beckons and haunts Jay Gatsby and propels him onwards in his quest to reclaim lost love. From the outset, Luhrmann honors the source material.

Indeed, Luhrmann is in love with Fitzgerald's language. Beautiful passages aren't just uttered on screen; the really, really poetic ones are splashed across the screen. In the scene where Gatsby recounts the first time he kissed Daisy, Luhrmann heightens the magic of the scene so it becomes an explosion of emotion and anticipation, a visual, verbal, and musical confluence that captures hope, longing, and beauty. Fitzgerald's words float across the screen as they are spoken, underscoring the poetry of the prose: "He knew that when he kissed this girl, and forever wed his unutterable visions to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God." Now, some critics didn't respond well to this technique in the film. (Ahem. I'm looking at you, Linda Holmes.) But, I think Luhrmann executed it beautifully. The ineffable moments that fill the pages of The Great Gatsby are too big, too important, too swollen with humanity to be contained merely in language or images; so, Luhrmann brings together sight and sound to paint the feeling of these scenes, to create an emotional moment that washed over the audience. It turns out Luhrmann actually listened to the novel-- he didn't actually read it! That explains why he is in love with the language and hears music in it.

I need to talk about Leo now. (Because, let's face it, I always love the chance to talk about Leo.) He was, in a word, fantastic as Gatsby. Throughout the movie I beamed at him like a proud girlfriend-- he's come a long way from Growing Pains, folks! Watching him in this role was like watching a reel of the "Best of DiCaprio Roles": he blended the boyish romanticism of Jack Dawson from Titanic, the haunted maturity of Dominic Cobb from Inception, and the old-school polish of Frank Wheeler from Revolutionary Road. I cared about Gatsby in a way I never did in the novel. Also, that face:

I mean, can man be more perfect?? (A question for the philosophers...) But seriously, Leo's performance stood out from the pack. There was Mrs. Marcus Mumford (that's Carey Mulligan for you poor souls who aren't Mumford & Sons fans) as a pretty good Daisy, but the role was unevenly written. Tobey Maguire was an overly simple Nick Carraway-- his innocent, doe-eyed charm worked perfectly in Pleasantville (remember that gem??), but seems too one-dimensional for the pulse and intrigue of Gatsby. Leo was clearly the leader in this movie, a welcome turn for an actor who has too often been overlooked by critics. (I'm looking at you, Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. Get your act together, you old fogies!)

Other reviews have gushed over the music, gawked at the scrumptious costumes, or nit-picked over style. So, I won't delve into that. Overall, Ole Baz from Oz managed to lovingly pay homage to a work of literature that he clearly respects. And-- bonus-- he did so in a way entirely his own. This movie did exactly what an adaptation is supposed to-- it challenged me to think about the source material in new ways. After seeing the film, I appreciated Fitzgerald's language as I've never done before; I connected with Fitzgerald's characters as I've never done before; and I understood Fitzgerald's story as I've never done before. Everything old is suddenly new again. And that, Old Sport, is why you should see The Great Gatsby.

-- Yankee Belle