A weekly review of a book to film adaptation.
The Great Gatsby is a novel that has famously failed to cross into other mediums. With this latest adaptation, by director Baz Luhrman, I was curious to see how Luhrman's unique style would interpret this classic story. I entered the theater with a fair amount of trepidation, especially after the largely mixed reviews that I'd read. To my surprise, I really enjoyed this adaptation.
There were a couple of major alterations to the novel's original story, namely Nick's background and the events that take place after his time with Gatsby, but the film was mostly faithful to the novel. Many of the reviews argued against the director's style over substance approach, but I disagree with these claims. While there are moments of dazzling camera acrobatics and 3D effects, there are also many moments of quiet introspection. DiCaprio's Gatsby is probably the most sincere portrayal of this character that there will ever be. His interactions with both Maguire's Nick and Mulligan's Daisy seemed genuine, and I could really feel the soul of the man behind the facade he had made for himself.
This unique interpretation will, no doubt, garner mixed reaction amongst the faithful readers and casual moviegoers. In the end, it is probably impossible to perfectly translate the intentions of the novel into a film, but this one comes pretty close.
Have you read the novel or seen the movie? If so, what did you think of it? What book adaptations would you like to see as a future Friday Flicks post?
I hope everyone has been finding their new favorite book!
Friday, May 17, 2013
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Popular Posts
-
For Review: The Vanishing Game by Kate Kae Myers Black-Winged Tuesday by Alicia Ryan My Favorite Mistake by Catherine Hapka and Georgina...
-
Title: Sacre Bleu: A Comedy d’Art Author: Christopher Moore Publisher: HarperCollins Publication Date: April 3, 2012 Reviewer: Ethan ...
-
Were number 130! Enter to win: E-book (International): 2 copies of Jamais Vu and The Mulligan Man by Monique O'Connor James 1 book by ...
-
Stuck in the Midwest with You I love stories about people who are stuck together. Locked in a room, maneuvered into a marriage of convenie...
-
Author: P. C+ Kristin Cast Artist: Kim Doner Series: House of Night Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin Publication Date: July 12, 2011 Ho...
No comments:
Post a Comment