Wednesday, October 23, 2013

GREAT GATSBY IN ACTION by: Uel Ceballos

Based from the novel The Great Gatsby written by the American author F. Scott Fitzgerald, the 2013 The Great Gatsby movie was the fifth film adaptations of the said book since 1926. The most recent Gatsby film was casted by Leonardo Di Caprio as Jay Gatsby and Tobey Maguire as Nick Carraway, of whom I could say, were well fitted for their roles. They both did a great portrayal here, especially Leo, who had excellently brought Jay Gatsby to life from the most dominant to the least details of him. It wasn’t a surprise at all that Leo had given us here a marvelous act, aside from the fact the he was my teenage crush, nothing could be really denied about his greatness as an actor. Like in his other movie performance, he had given his self away here in The Great Gatsby to provide room for the role he would be playing, which is the role of Jay Gatsby – who was distinguished for his peculiarity, sophistication, lavishness, and mystifying charm. Leo had justified the sometimes firm and sometimes dithering attitude, the presentation of sugar-coated personality and the bared one, the unmatched passion and effortless charm that all contained in Jay Gastby’s unpredictable nature.


The film as told in the book concerned the story of young millionaire Jay Gatsby and his undying love for Daisy Buchanan. The entire story was looked through the perspective of Daisy’s cousin, Nick Carraway who was also the narrator in the movie. By following in precise details on what were being described in the novel, the viewers would surely enjoy the extravagant sights of the gaudy and fanciful Long Island where Gastby’s mansion was located.

The developments of the characters were carefully made from the physique features to the clothing fashion and the manners that should be acted. Daisy Buchanan and Jordan Baker here were depicted as perfectly as they were described in the book – satiated with grace and elegance, Daisy and Jordan were the perfect epitome of the sweetest and posh ladies who belonged in the superior society of their era.

The film was created to be a complete parallel movie version of the book, delivering the story through Nick’s views. This brought both the good and limited effects though – good to the sense that the film balanced the standpoints of the audiences, who were seeing through Nick’s spectacles. Nick was the type of person who tried to reserve his judgments for as long as he could stand it – and this in turn, influenced the audiences’ notion as well. However a balanced viewpoint quiet has the tendency to spoil the emotions that are being built up along the progression of the movie. Also, the narration style limited the film on its great potential to bring the chronicle in its stunning climax, because it somewhat subdued the supposedly peak of the story. Nevertheless, that was really how the story went in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book, and the filmhad just followed  it accordingly.

I have watched the movie first before I got to read the book. After I finished the novel I noticed some parts that weren’t included in the movie’s ending – appearance of Jay Gatsby’s father and the funeral scene that really made me feel so heavy at heart while I was ready it. Maybe, if they have included it in the film as well, they could have done probably a more sensible ending because the father’s appearance and statement in the novel had shown small but significant details on the other side of Jay Gatsby’s personality.

For this wonderful movie inspired by one of the most remarkable piece in the history of literature, I will give it a rate of 7 Espresso Shots!




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