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"Her voice is full of money." Homage to Gatsby.

Posted on: Sunday 24 June 2012

OK, so I had a lengthy post planned about friendships and weirdness and feeling out of place and how things don't get easier as you get older...

But then I saw The Great Gatsby trailer and it was impossible to write about anything else. WATCH IT. Watch it NOW.


Baz Luhrmann and The Great Gatsby. When you think about it, how did it take so long to happen? The decandence of the novel lends itself perfectly to Luhrmann's O.T.T. theatrical all-the-mayhem-of-a-circus style. And the trailer is a Feast For The Eyes.

I love how Luhrmann stays true to to the original text - or did with Romeo + Juliet, anyway, in the most obvious way, i.e. sticking with Shakespeare's language - but puts his own entirely appropriate modern slant on it. It doesn't detract at all, I think - it just shows how bloody universal a book like TGG is.

So, here's what I LOVE about the Gatsby trailer:

  • THE MUSIC CHOICES. Kanye West and Jay-Z? Oh, Mr Luhrmann, you're spoiling us. I've been listening to No Church in the Wild aaaall weekend (and feeling a little bit gangsta). "There's something that the pastor don't preach, that's something that a teacher can't teach." Woah. Amezzin. And Love is Blindness by Jack White is a stroke of genius. "Love is blindness/I don't wanna see/Won't you wrap the night around me?" I love the desperation of Jack White's voice - no matter what he's singing about, he always sounds on the brink. Oh, I love it.

  • The racial mix of the characters. Way to bring the film up to date immediately.

  • The swimming pool. That logo at the bottom? Sumptuous.

  • The zebra in the fountain. What's not to love?

  • Carey Mulligan. Annoying as hell in Shame (which was not at all arthouse in my humble opinion, but actually just a bit gross) but pretty perfect for the part of Daisy. Who'd have thunk it? Way better than Knightley, who was in the running for it (allegedly) and irritated me no end in Atonement.

What I'm WONDERING ABOUT at the minute (N.B. NOT a hate list. Not yet.):

  • Leo - apologies, but yer narr. He's supposed to be 32, and he's actually coming up 40. I'm a DiCaprio fan, don't get me wrong - he just doesn't match up with the image of Jasy Gatbsy I have in my head. Hmm. I did wonder whether Tobey Maguire might have made a pretty good Gatsby rather than Nick. Anyway, I predict once I've seen it Leo will have completely won me over - the clip of him throwing shirts over the mezzanine is almost enough to make me eat my words Right Now. Anyway, reserving judgement. 

  • I'd have really liked Tom Buchanan to have been played by Ben Affleck, also said to have been in the running for the part. He has Prick Factor in spades, but sadly it wasn't to be. Sniff.

The realisation that the release date is in December (I knoooow!) is, I'll be honest, a crushing blow, but  I'm holding on in there. I reckon I can get at least three more weeks of constant trailer-playing enjoyment out of YouTube.

2 comments:

  1. In my head Jay Gatsby is closer to Jude Law than LdC. Deffo!

    Px

    ReplyDelete
  2. It is vaguely unnerving when a book from your top 5 EVAH books is made film. Love it, studied it, wrote copiously about it in my finals, still think it is sublime. Mr G is always and forever blonde for me , probably got Robert Redford to thank for that. Can not wait for the release, could be persuaded by Leo? I see Michelle Williams as Daisy but heyho! Off to YouTube! X

    ReplyDelete

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