FILM list.co.uk/film
THE GREAT GATSBY Baz Luhrmann’s lavish adaptation fi nally arrives
A far cry from the drab pastel shades and muffled emotion of the 1974 Robert Redford/Mia Farrow film, Baz Luhrmann’s new version of The Great Gatsby aims to put the ‘great’ back into F Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel. Many have tried and failed to dramatise the cerebral narrative of the book. Luhrmann instead plays up the razzle-dazzle parties at Gatsby’s mansion, laced with explosions of 3D fireworks, as deliberately anachronistic pop-culture tunes garland the soundtrack.
An ideal Gatsby, Leonardo DiCaprio plays the social-climbing millionaire imperiously intense yet insecure, while Tobey Maguire’s wan smile makes him a decent if somewhat wet Nick Carraway, who cheerfully falls into the millionaire’s exuberant social circle. Joel Edgerton makes a bullish rival in Tom Buchanan, but Carey Mulligan is a weak choice for his wife Daisy, the object of Gatsby’s affections. Mulligan simply doesn’t do enough to suggest exactly why Gatsby could be so obsessed by Daisy, leaving a
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gaping hole where the story’s heart should be. Luhrmann’s gaudy approach is appropriate to the material; as proved by his best novella The Diamond as Big as The Ritz, Fitzgerald understood the distinct allure of grand scale and opulence. But the quieter scenes lack the requisite sensitivity, and reframing Nick’s narration from a sanatorium plays fast and loose with authorial awareness; Carraway is a character, not just the author’s surrogate. Luhrmann’s best film, Romeo + Juliet, mixed modern music and pop culture iconography to create daring meanings in Shakespeare’s text; his more reverential take on The Great Gatsby, complete with line-by- line dialogue from the book, feels all dressed up with nowhere to go in comparison. Yet the trappings are stunning, with sumptuous evocations of 1920s New York’s social scene that dazzle and beguile even as the narrative fizzles out. (Eddie Harrison)
The Great Gatsby (12A) 143min ●●●●● General release from Thu 16 May.
HITLIST THE BEST FILM RELEASES & EVENTS
✽ The Iceman Michael Shannon delivers another remarkable performance, this time as hitman Richard Kuklinski. See review, page 71. General release from Fri 7 Jun.
✽ King of Marvin Gardens This oddity of 70s American cinema gets a re-release,
directed by Bob Rafelson and starring Bruce Dern and Jack Nicholson. See review, page 71. Filmhouse, Edinburgh, from Fri 31 May.
✽ The Stoker Strange, dark and clever
gangster drama from Russian filmmaker Alexey Balabanov. Not to be confused with the recent Park Chan-wook film, Stoker. See review, page 71. Limited release from Fri 17 May.
✽ The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald purists might not appreciate Baz Luhrmann’s
lack of subtlety in his adaptation of the great American novel but you can’t deny it’s an impressive spectacle. See review, left. General release from Thu 16 May.
✽ Something in the Air Bittersweet portrait of students during the 70s from French filmmaker
Olivier Assayas. See profile, page 77 and review, page 72. Limited release from Fri 24 May.
✽ Chronicle of a Summer Groundbreaking documentary from
1961 made by sociologist Edgar Morin and filmmaker-anthropologist Jean Rouch, which questions the very notion of portraying truth on screen. GFT, Glasgow, Sun 2 Jun.
✽ Le Breton Season This year represents the 100th anniversary of the birth of crime
author Auguste Le Breton. Take your pick from one of four Breton-penned stories for your dose of French film noir. See preview, page 76. Institut français d’ Ecosse, Edinburgh, until Tue 4 Jun.