Guest Review - The Great Gatsby by Morganna

**  Minor spoilers ahead **

I went into ”The Great Gatsby” not knowing anything about the book or previous movies (I have now found out that this version is the 4^th incarnation of The Great Gatsby) – I didn’t know who or what a Gatsby was – it could have been about a city or a road or even an ant that was great for all I know! All I did know was that it was from a book written by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

So I didn't have any preconceptions about it, which I believe was a good thing, I was able to see the movie with fresh senses…I could feel sympathy for certain characters, listen to the music, see the bright colours, just about smell the smog and dirt from Valley of the Ashes (a desolate “dumping ground” for people and waste that lies on the road between the Gatsby mansion and the exciting glitzy New York of 1922, a contrast between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’) and taste the free flowing bootlegged alcohol. It was an indeed a feast for all the senses! And the costumes!

The movie opens with a narrative by Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) who is an a sanatorium after trying unsuccessfully to deal with the demons from his time in New York – Nick has been diagnosed previously with insomnia, anger, depression, anxiety, tendency to throw things and alcoholism.  He is helped by a kindly doctor, Dr Walter Perkins (Jack Thompson) who gives a blank book and a pen for Nick to write his memories down to aid in his recovery.  It works for Nick as coming from Yale University to New York to be a writer (he ends up working in bonds), he certainly has a gift for the written word. Nick soon moves to a typewriter and the viewer is treated to typed words on the screen that come directly from the book.  Nick tells Dr. Perkins that he is “disgusted” by everyone, except Gatsby (yes he is a person, that’s one mystery solved!)

Nick moves to a groundsman’s cottage on Long Island right next door to J. Gatsby) who is quite intrigued by Nick and looks down on him from one of his mansion windows. Nick’s cousin, the immensely rich Daisy Buchanan (Carey Mulligan), lives directly across the water from Gatsby with her husband Tom (Joel Edgerton) in her own glorious mansion. It’s there Nick meets Jordan Baker (Elizabeth Debicki) a famous sports star and the two form an alliance which becomes clearer as the movie progresses.  Nick mentions that he is living right next door to Gatsby and the look of Daisy’s face not only suggests that she knows him, but they were intimate. Turns out five years ago Daisy met Gatsby at her house when he was an Officer in the First World War and, throwing caution to the wind, they became intimate.  Letters pass between them, the last one coming on the day she was to be married to Tom.  Gatsby later reveals a scrapbook where he kept every letter Daisy wrote, plus newspaper clippings detailing her marriage to Tom which tells of Gatsby’s love and obsession for Daisy, Gatsby the man who had everything but his obsession.

Gatsby’s mansion is absolutely brilliant, visually and aurally – the colours, the music, the costumes, parties and the giant Wurlitzer organ, played by an extremely gifted and freeloading Ewing Klipspringer (Brendan Maclean) apparently a descendant of Beethoven…this thing was awesome! I just wanted to jump through the screen and play! Tom has a bit on the side, the very married Myrtle Wilson (Isla Fisher) from Valley of the Ashes who lives with her mechanic husband, George (Jason Clarke). Myrtle’s gorgeous red hair and costume clashes brilliantly with the grey dour of Valley of the Ashes. 

Gatsby’s love for Daisy is obsessional and perhaps misplaced, but it’s true, unlike Tom’s kind of love which is controlling, lying and has ‘the money will take care of it’ attitude. Tom and Daisy run away from the situation both physically and emotionally, leaving Gatsby to take the fall.  Gatsby fully lives in his past where Daisy and he were happy, but he was penniless soldier. Everything Gatsby did had her in mind, even after she married and he moved across the bay. Gatsby became fully a self-made man, the great American dream that many tried to emulate, all for her. In the end, his love and Tom’s jealousy ended this dream.

The Great Gatsby is IMHO a brilliantly paced, visual and aural feast and I really enjoyed it. The fact that it was filmed in locations around Sydney, New South Wales and used both Australian and overseas talent is a wonderful nod to the bounty that Australia can share with the world. Well done Baz!