Jay Gatsby: "I knew it was a mistake for a man like me to fall in love..."
I have been so excited for this film! I know not everyone does, but I absolutely love Baz Luhrmann's version of Romeo & Juliet; how stylized it looks, the eccentricity of the camera angles and just the romance of the storytelling makes it one of my favourite films. When I heard he was taking on Gatsby, I was really looking forward to how he would interpret it.
I actually saw this film around 2 weeks ago, but have left writing the review till now just because..I wasn't really sure what to say!
First things first, The Great Gatsby looks amaaazing. I'll admit I saw it in 2D, so I can't speak for how it uses the third dimension but it was still beautiful, full of colour and decadence, visually showing the wealth and gluttony of the lives of the characters perfectly. The costumes are incredible and the party scenes are extraordinary, with every piece of the screen exuding life and glamour. It is quite in-your-face though, and kind of got a little bit much to be honest, because the film moves along so quick it is quite difficult to keep up! Despite that, weirdly, it feels long. Really long. Nearly 2 and a half hours!
I think the reason it feels so long is because there's a lack of actual storyline... for a start, it takes forever to actually meet Gatsby (though admittedly, when you do, there is literal fireworks) and there seems to be no cohesion between the scenes at the house and parties in between. This gets better as the film progresses, particularly after Gatsby and Daisy's affair is revealed to Tom Buchanan in a brilliant scene full of tension. Up until then, it kinda feels like nothing much is happening, making the audience impatient. This could maybe be down to the novel? I do own the book and have tried to read it several times, but it just never grabs me at the beginning so I haven't managed to finish it! Also, considering it is a love story, the really moving romantic moments that you want to see between Gatsby and Daisy are few and far between.
Without doubt, the best thing in The Great Gatsby is the man himself, played by Leonardo Dicaprio. He plays the legendary character with such subtlety and control, it really is brilliant to watch. You believe that his life of luxury has all been to impress the love of his life, and that he will never give up hope of getting her back. Leo can do no wrong for me anyway, but he really is the highlight of the film. Though, if I never hear the phrase 'old sport' again, it will be too soon. Seriously.
The other legendary character is that of Daisy Buchanan, played by Carey Mulligan. Don't get me wrong, she looks stunning, but I just wasn't convinced by her. She didn't seem worthy of Gatsby, which, again, could be all to do with the character, because Carey did play her part well. Her husband, Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton) is also thoroughly one-dimensional, and Tobey Maguire is good as always, but just seems to be standing around watching everyone else.
There has been a lot of hype about the soundtrack, which does have a lot of my favourite artists including Florence Welch and Lana del Rey, but...I didn't love it. At times, particularly in the party scenes, it was really great and added to the atmosphere, but at others, it was jarring to what was on screen and just didn't seem to flow. This may just be me, but there you go.
Overall, I was a bit let down by The Great Gatsby, but that could have been a result of me building it up too much before seeing it! True to Tobey Maguire's voiceover, the only person you really like by the end of it is Gatsby himself.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
Definitely a case of style over substance!
Have you seen The Great Gatsby?
Thanks for reading!
Sophie.
I may have been absent from Blogspot for quite a while now, but working, university and the festive period can add up to being pretty busy! I haven't gotten the chance to actually go to the cinema for months now until this week, and I thought that Quentin Tarantino's new 'Southern' Django Unchained was the perfect thing to start 2013 with.
Django Unchained (2013)
Directed by Quentin Tarantino
Starring Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, Samuel L. Jackson
'Gentlemen, you had my curiosity.
But now, you have my attention.'
Django Unchained is Quentin Tarantino's debut in the Western genre, or as he calls it, the 'Southern'. It is set two years before the Civil War in a Deep South rife with the slave trade. Django (Foxx) is freed by German dentist-turned-bounty-hunter Dr. King Schulz (Waltz) so as to assist him in finding his next targets, the three Brittle brothers. After a prosperous winter of vigilante justice, they set off to rescue Django's wife Broomhilda (Washington) from sickly sweet plantation owner Calvin Candie (DiCaprio).
Now, I may be a bit biased with this one. I'm a huge Tarantino fan, the classic Pulp Fiction and brilliant Inglourious Basterds being my top two, and have been excited for the release of Django ever since I heard about it last year. But I have to say, I loved this film.
Everything is good here; the soundtrack is effortlessly cool, the acting incredible, the tension unbearable and the comedy brilliant.
Django is full of Western iconography, with plenty of swooping camera angles, pistols drawn from hips and close ups of beer spilling over tankards. Tarantino is the master of switching the atmosphere between the laugh-out-loud and the downright frightening, including a memorable scene at Calvin Candie's dinner table.
Speaking of Candie, Leonardo DiCaprio's sycophantic monster is the highlight of the film. He brings a slimy unease to the screen, and there is always the sense of rage and psychosis simmering under the overly polite exterior. He is like a petulant boy at times and a heartless villain at others, and him and Samuel L. Jackson as the devoted Stephen make for a great comedic pairing.
As for the 'good guys', Christoph Waltz is excellent as always, pulling off reels of smart dialogue effortlessly as well as truly emotional moments between him and Django. Jamie Foxx does well as the vengeful slave, showing a real progression through the film from someone unable to read and too sympathetic to fire a fatal bullet, to a convincing hero who is as resourceful as the German who unchained him. Foxx has a real physical presence and has you rooting for him, but gets a bit lost surrounded by massive performances by those around him.
A character I personally found issue with was Django's wife Broomhilda, played by the beautiful Kerry Washington. She's very much a damsel-in-distress for the whole film which gets a bit wearing, but in terms of the story she couldn't really be anything else. A German fairytale is at the center of the plot, with Django playing a 'real life Siegfried' who dodges a fearsome dragon and walks through hellfire to save his beloved Broomhilda, simply because 'she's worth it'.
One thing to be warned of is the violence. This is, of course, a Tarantino film, so expect the usual cartoonish gunfights and lashings of spurting red stuff, but there is also some pretty gruesome scenes involving dogs, whippings and a particularly brutal 'Mandingo fight'. I don't think it's anything an over-18 audience can't handle, but it will have you wincing in your seat (which is, of course, the point). The director has faced slavery head on, and made the unthinkable racism the real horror of the film.
The film is most definitely a triumph and is seriously enjoyable to watch, but, I hate to say it, it is long. Really long. Although the ending is certainly gratifying and worth the wait, it feels like it should come about half an hour before it actually does. Despite that, it will definitely be one I'll watch again and again!
Rating: Not my favourite Tarantino, but still utterly brilliant.
5 out of 5!
Go see this film!
Thanks for reading,
Sophie.
