You know how an idea seems brilliant until you actually see it come to fruition? That's
The Great Gatsby.
The book is . . . incredibly detailed, with minute little moments of sorrow and depression and beauty that can make you weep for the gloriousness of it all. Fitzgerald, whatever else he might have been, was a remarkable writer and no one will convince me otherwise. A sinner, oh yes undoubtedly, but a skilled artisan of his craft just the same.
It only stands to reason that a book which highlights depravity in the 1920s would eventually make it to the Silver Screen. I'm good with that idea. Except for the follow-through! Has anyone seen the trailer yet? It's on the main page of
IMDB and I encourage you to watch it. It's like a massacre of Fitzgerald's original work. I love Leonardo DiCaprio but he is one of the last actors on God's green earth I imagined playing Gatsby. I think I had Jeremy Irons or Jason Isaacs in mind when they were younger. I wouldn't have been averse to an Englishman playing Gatsby. Leo just does not fit the role and Tobey Maguire fits the role of Nick Carraway even less.
I love the book because I analyze it and pity the characters and sense what is missing in their lives, mainly God. That's because it's not displayed on the Silver Screen for all to see, admire, and worship. I know the Roaring Twenties were morally bankrupt. I might even be able to watch a film of
The Great Gatsby if it were done right. But this, pardon the word, feels like a complete bastardization of Fitzgerald's original work. It's like the clothing doesn't fit the body of his work.
Don't get me wrong, I imagine it will be a magnificent triumph. Just a pathetic misrepresentation of
The Great Gatsby. *sighs* Darn you, Hollywood, when will you ever leave well enough alone!?
One Extra Thought
In the case of
The Great Gatsby it's original setting is one that is very clinical, very cold, and very distant because it is all from Nick's perspective. Now, maybe the actual movie reflects that but the trailer really doesn't. Instead we have confetti flying all over the place and everyone looking like they're having a great time when really the book is a tale of loneliness and how you can be in a great whirl of humanity and still be dreadfully alone. That message is better communicated if the filming keeps to the original novel. Instead we may have another
Romeo + Juliet on our hands where the only decent thing in the entire film was Leo and Claire. Oh boy, I hope not.
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