Staged debauchery: Luhrmann's three-ring circus on the screen

There's no doubt that writing a screenplay adaptation of a literary masterpiece is a challenge that few can successfully meet. Let me begin this by saying, even though Zack Luhrmann is not the first writer to try and bring Scott Fitzgerald's brilliant literary classic, The Great Gatsby to life on the screen, he gave it a decent and somewhat impressive attempt. In typical Luhrmann style, he gives the classic story a modern spin, and while it is somewhat entertaining, it does not always translate well.

Somewhere amidst the overproduced, 3-D jazz-age extravaganza, it is easy to become weary with the incessant parading of bobbles, bangles and beads, unremitting decadence, and the brash circus of visual effects. Luhrmann sticks closely to Fitzgerald's storyline, with the exception of the beginning, where Nick Carraway, the author's proxy checks into a psychiatric clinic to deal with his alcoholism, anger, fear, rage, despondency, depression and a list of emotional responses that are reflective of his disappointment with life as he knows it. Even so, Luhrmann's interpretation of Fitzgerald's parallel worlds where he reveals not just the theme of hindered young love between a man and woman (Daisy and Gatsby), but the ultimate out-of-control corruption of the American dream, leaving gallant morality behind is inadequately translated. Admittedly, Luhrmann captures "the parties," and obsession with extreme excess perfectly, however

If visual impression and panache are the measure by which we rate a good film, then I suspect Luhrmann would rank a bit higher for the effort, for his over-the-top cinematic production, with the elaborate costumes and sets define the word "excessive." However, given the fact that much of this film takes place in and out of excess, it becomes somewhat distracting, and certainly is a far cry from a story set in the 1920's. One of the things that Luhrmann does have going for him is that this kind of gaudy excess is precisely how Fitzgerald describes the decadence and moral corruption of that era.

In all fairness, I think this story is difficult to translate over to film. Why have all of these adaptations flopped? The novel is genius—there is no doubt about that, but there are problems with this newest version of The Great Gatsby. The actors are certainly well suited, and especially Leonardo DiCaprio. He did a wonderful job of portraying the heartsick, obsessively intent, mysterious Jay Gatsby.

In the novel, Fitzgerald purposefully delays letting the reader know the "real" story behind Gatsby's wealth, and why he weekly throws opulent parties at his mansion. In fact, it is the mystery itself about Gatsby's wealth and his life that drives the plot forward in the novel. Luhrmann reveals some of Gatsby's secrets early on, which tend to take the suspense away, and leave the audience feeling like we're attending one reckless, obscene, indulgent event after another.

Another ongoing issue in the film is that Luhrmann has characters "explaining" the action instead of "showing" us the action, i.e., like Carraway explaining to the audience the history and reasons behind Gatsby's motivation. You see, in a novel, using exposition to unveil history and a character's past is paramount, but it is something that should never be done in a film. Perhaps the fact that The Great Gatsby covers numerous weighty and complex ideas makes it difficult to adequately capture in a two-hour film. By the end of this film, I felt exhausted and unsatisfied. The heart of the story itself is somehow lost among the rubble of overproduced excess. It is ridiculously ironic, since the novel addresses the corruption of the American dream, by comparing and contrasting newly fortuned millionaires of the 1920's against old aristocracy. Fitzgerald is very intent on revealing the ostentatious, gaudy, crude lifestyles of the newly rich as being socially and morally repugnant. Daisy (Carey Mulligan) and Tom (Joel Edgerton) Buchanan represent pieces of the old aristocracy, and this is not emphasized in Luhrmann's adaptation. Because the emphasis is lost, the audience only gets tidbits of those important details that should amalgamate the characters to the plot and ultimately drive the plot forward.

So, once again, it's not the choice of actors, they were fineIt's the script and the way it was directed. There's a lot of flash, but no real depth—the audience is left feeling hung-over from the 2-hour debauchery and three-ring circus held at the great Gatsby's "castle."