Berkley Black / 06 May 2013 / Categories: Movie and TV Shows, Movie

The Great Gatsby

A decade ago, Baz Luhrmann was aboard the Trans-Siberian Express, travelling across the Russian steppes, when he listened to the talking book of Fitzgerald's Jazz Age classic. Enraptured, he decided then to make a movie from the novel.

The Great Gatsby is a very short novel but Luhrmann has turned it into a very lavish, long and expensive film. It was made by a crew of 1,160 people and with a background cast of 960. The production budget is well over $100m – a huge amount for a film without any superheroes or icebergs in it.

DISAPPOINTING

Cannes was great. the Gatsby less than. Even Leo's portrayal of the plutocrat Jay Gatsby couldn't save this one.

I found the film shallow unlike the novel, so character driven full of depth, something Luhrmann's interpretation missed deep and wide.

There were a few on screen moments between Carey Mulligan's Daisy and Leonardo but they were moments.

In Hollywood they talk of every director's one David, Luhrmann's was Moulin Rouge, never to be repeated not even when you start with the greatest American novel ever written.