Gatsby. The beloved character from F.
Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel, The Great Gatsby, has been reinvented
through the eyes of director, Baz Luhrmann, in the
2013 summer blockbuster. A Film and TV crique for Vogue, Nathan Heller,
gives his opinion on the film in his article: "Bacchanalian Carnival: Baz
Lurhmann's The Great Gatsby". Heller is a Harvard graduate and
has also written for “The New Yorker” and “The New York Times”. In this
article, he shows his readers Lurhmann's bold take on Fitzgerald's well-known
classic. Between the over-the-top parties, extravagant cars, and Gatsby's
endless love for Daisy Buchanan, Lurhmann's take on the roaring twenties is
hard to ignore.
Heller's purpose
was to show his readers how Lurhmann was able to keep the familiar storyline of
the novel, while giving it a modern makeover. For example- popular artists,
Jay-Z and Fergie, did the movies music scoring. He believes that the film itself is " not a movie for
Fitzgerald purists—or even, probably, their close relatives". Its
unorthodox vibrancy
is what gives the film so much appeal to begin with. Although the novel's
purists maybe overwhelmed by the film, Heller shows readers how this film is
perfect for those who love both the story of The Great Gatsby and the vibe of
today’s modern society. Lurhmann was able to blend the two in a way that the
film is far enough off from the original novel, that it becomes alluring to
all. Even Gatsby sticklers can re-fall in love with Gatsby.
Heller uses Pathos in this piece by explaining
how the treasured masterpiece written by Fitzgerald could be altered to
fascinate all who encounter it. I believe that Heller was able to achieve his
purpose that Lurhmann was able to keep the familiar storyline of the Great Gatsby,
while giving it a modern twist. He achieved his purpose by showing readers how
even with the modern take, the same beloved characters of Daisy, Nick, Tom,
Jordan, and, of course, Gatsby, were still the same as in the novel. The characters are what, as Heller
says: “the
quiet eye of the hurricane, the center of its luxurious storm”.
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