by Emma Dawson

Last Thursday night, the 2013 rendition of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby took to the screen across the country in a vibrant recreation of the novel. The Great Gatsby has assumed a key spot on high school reading lists for years, and in Baz Luhrmann’s film, the story many of us spent laborious hours analyzing is given reverence in a visually captivating yet contextually hollow film.

While the film remained generally loyal to the book, Luhrmann took a new direction with Nick Carraway’s (Tobey Maguire) retelling of events:  the vehicle through which Nick tells the story of Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio) is through conversations with his therapist. This variation was unsuccessful, as it seemed out of place and resulted in unnatural-sounding dialogue and forced transitions.

DiCaprio’s performance was particularly impressive, capturing the stark contrast of wisdom and vulnerability in his character. Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan performed the “beautiful little fool” speech with an enchanting sentiment, but often seemed too emotionally evolved, and lacked the shallow, ditsy-ness for which Daisy is known. Maguire captured Nick Carraway’s awkward innocence, but the quiet, reflective temperance of his character could be mistaken as unemotional and robotic, and which I would argue to merely be poor acting.

Nonetheless, the film’s cinematography was dizzyingly beautiful. Luhrmann channeled the vibrancies of the era perfectly, depicting loud parties in their full glory of elaborate costumes and theatrical dance. The costumes starred as one of the most striking aspects of the film.

Fitzgerald’s novel became generationally relevant with a soundtrack coordinated by rapper Jay-Z and contributions from Jack White, Lana Del Rey, Beyonce, Andre 3000, and more. While the modern score gave the film an interesting connection to our generation, the transitions between current hip-hop and classic twenties brass were often too abrupt. Lana Del Rey’s Young and Beautiful, however, acted as a brilliant backdrop for Daisy’s character; Del Rey’s voice is timeless, so it meshed well with the setting and will surely be reminiscent of the film for years to come.

Not surprisingly, the film failed to go into the same depth of social commentary as the book, and focused more on the “love story” between Jay and Daisy than on the themes of greed and the deterioration of the American dream. Although this was disappointing for fans of the novel, the film was entertaining and kept its audience interested, which, in the end, sells tickets. Luhrmann’s film raked in over $50 million with its midnight premiere.

Ranging from the sophisticated chaos of Jay Gatsby’s parties to the dull road to New York and the billboard eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleberg, the film seemed to reflect exactly what many viewers had pictured upon reading F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel; in this way, Luhrmann’s film graciously paid homage to the American classic that the story of Gatsby has become.