Pursuing an illusion can be an obsessive, tiresome and ultimately futile exercise. For someone like Jay Gatsby, this pursuit defined his mores, his actions and his life. ‘The Great Gatsby’ is a film that takes you deep into the purity of Gatsby’s quest, mirroring it with its imperfect methods and its flawed objective.
Nick Carraway is a recovering mental wreck, prone to bouts of anger and alcoholism. In therapy he is encouraged to narrate a defining phase of his life, the time spent in New York’s Long Island as a neighbor to the enigmatic and wealthy Jay Gatsby. Soon Nick discovers that Gatsby is obsessed with rekindling a romance with Nick’s cousin Daisy, that had gone off track because of Gatsby’s need to become 'a somebody' to be worthy of her.
A much married Daisy struggles with her marriage to Nick’s former Yale college-mate Tom who is unfaithful to Daisy. As Gatsby befriends Nick and coaxes him to arrange for a meeting with Daisy, he also allows Nick into the man he truly is, someone different from who he appears to be. As Daisy and Gatsby embark on an affair, the time comes for Gatsby to have Daisy break her marriage with Tom and reunite with him. Whether Gatsby’s mysterious past comes in the way is what the story unravels.
Based on F.Scott Fritzgerald’s seminal novel depicting the American way of life in the Roaring Twenties, Gatsby is viewed through the kaleidoscope of modern movie-making by a large canvas film maker, Baz Luhrmann. While Luhrmann’s predisposition to high pitch drama and music (he is a self-confessed ‘Bollywood’ fan) is recognized, he brings a tragic melancholy to Gatsby’s story that underlines the futile pursuit of something fundamental even when you have everything you can materially buy. Luhrmann is effectively able to create a mood that symbolized ‘Citizen Kane’ – a man who has everything but the one thing that he wants. While Kane's mysterious utterance 'Rosebud' symbolized happiness, Gatsby's preoccupation with the green light that flickered from Daisy's home across the bay symbolized his obsession with her.
Watching the film in 3D, Gatsby almost seems like an action film with quick editing cuts, zooming turbo charged cars, loud music, dance and fireworks that form a glittering spectacle. Credit needs to be given to Luhrmann and long-time writing collaborator Craig Pearce for not losing focus on the human element of the story, that of Gatsby’s obsession with Daisy, Nick’s helplessness from the sidelines, Daisy’s inability to take a decision and Tom’s scheming attempt to save his crumbling marriage. They also bring out the societal divisions and the tensions of the times – poor vs. new money vs. old money and the problems plaguing the USA – bootlegging and smuggling during the times of prohibition, effectively.
Leonardo DiCaprio is the quintessential Hollywood movie star – he has presence, he is handsome, suave with clean cut good looks and an acting arsenal to boot. He brings all that to bear in an effective portrayal of the suffering and heart-broken, yet eternally optimistic Jay Gatsby. If ‘Citizen Kane’ were to be remade, he should be cast as the protagonist. Tobey Maguire is passable as Nick Carraway and manages to perform similarly in all movies irrespective of the character he is playing. Joel Edgerton as Tom delivers a powerful broadside from the supporting cast and should win accolades down the road for the same. Amitabh Bachchan as Meyer Wolfshiem, Gatsby’s dubious business partner and ‘fixer’ is given very little screen time to show the immense talent that he has, yet looks convincingly fiendish in a bit role.
‘The Great Gatsby’ stays with you and urges you to reflect on pursuits in life and the emptiness that some of them bring.
