A GATSBY FULL OF HOPE (UPDATED WITH DELETED SCENES)

The great Gatsby is just as its name suggests, GREAT; and it is not just the presence of Leo DiCaprio that defines its greatness (although of course Leo's greatness cannot be doubted).

Besides the great presentation of the movie, on a backdrop of appropriate colour representations in generating the right mood, the movie is also escorted by great music that accompanies the scenes to create the right feel. On top of that, the inspirational message the underlines the entire story makes The Great Gatsby a great watch and yes, just great! (Overused of the word Great is cheesy, I know)

Of course, there are critics everywhere and this movie received mixed reviews but I would stand firm on the positive side because I did not waste my 2 hours that night.

As usual, we were entertained with a series of trailers (who doesn't love trailers) and the heavy dark curtains literally drew open that night and the opening line of the movie rang in my ears and I was hooked. I knew from that moment, this is my movie. Never before in my whole life has one sentence from the movie grabbed me within a second. With books, yes, but never with movies. But then of course, this line, too, came from the book...

"In my younger and more vulnerable years, my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since. ‘Whenever you feel like criticizing any one,’ he told me, ‘just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you've had.’…consequently, I’m inclined to reserve all of my judgments. But even I had limitations."

One of the things I love about the movie are the colour crafted scenes and meaningful Voice-overs.

From the colourful town of West Egg, in Long Island, which represents party and life to the darker tone of the poor town , "the Valley of Ashes" which was filled with "filth" (sex, drugs etc) and poverty!

Later on, as the film progressed, one noticed that even West Egg turned into moodier colour tones to highlight the disgusting and darker side of humans that surrounds the town - selfishness, greed and infidelity. Each scene involving Gatsby were brightly lit with joy and this is to represent the "hopefulness" he carries with him, as described by Carraway.

Another thing that stroke me just minutes into the movie was the immediate change of mood - from gloomy Nick Carraway right into jolly Nick just by using his tone of voice and how he reads his dialogue. The fast paced life of New York city was represented by his speed in reading his dialogue while the rich city of West Egg was depicted with a jovial tone. I never really liked Tobey McGuire but yes, I admit he did a pretty decent job in this film, in terms of voice over. Still not a fan of his acting in the movie and I'd so much more preferred Ewan McGregor helming the great role of Nick Carraway.

Themes

Delving into the themes, awww man, I could go on and on about this! That's the problem with me (and my blog); I am too long winded and 90% of what I say doesn't matter. There are so many things entwined in this colourful picture. The Great Gatsby discusses "Hope", "Love", "Betrayal", "Humanity" and "Friendship".

Starting with Hope - the most dangerous thing in life, and yet, important. For with no hope, there will be no trust and there will be no faith to live on.

Hope has saved many things and perhaps live, but has also driven a fair share of people down the pit.

Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbin's character in the Shawshank Redemption) said, "Without hope, there is nothing (to live for)"

Similar to The Shawshank Redemption, this movie heavily discusses the theme of Hope; however, The Great Gatsby did not end rosy like in The Shawshank Redemption.

It depicts Hope as a lie to oneself, and the lie that drives one into believing something that might not be there/true/possible. Hope in the movie reminds me of the innocence one has in life, when they were younger. Of course, I live with a lot of Hope, but as I grow older, I've learned to not hope so because Hope is akin to a lie. Gatsby did not grew out of Hope, he believed and it led to his demise.

While driven by his love and the Hope to see Daisy Buchanan again one day, Gatsby worked hard for a fortune. His plans, all in Hope of being able to be with Daisy again, going back to how it all started. No, I am a firm believer that things can NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN. But Gatsby, with Hope, believes that things can be the same again. For lack of a better word, I'd say he is stupid, but because he is such a sweetheart, I'd say he is innocent.

It is amazing how the picture can depict Hopeful with its cameras, music, background and of course, DiCaprio's acting. The first time we saw Gatsby's face, the screen was filled with a moment best described as "A glimmer of Hope". Really, but I couldn't help but laugh because it was cheesy hahaha, yet effective.

You could almost see Hope glimmering through the screen

Carraway is also a Hopeful character in a way. At the beginning, all was beautiful for him and he doesn't judge others because he had in the back of his mind, trusted that everyone in a hopeful way until it was too much to handle.

Love and betrayal seemed to entwine in the movie. The only true love was demonstrated by Gatsby and Carraway for his friend. The rest of the characters are just filthy selfish (pardon me) bastards!

The Buchanans both cheated on one but I initially thought Gatsby's affair was "beautiful".

Spoiler Alert: I feel duped by Daisy and Gatsby "dating" scene! The beautiful melody of Lana Del Ray's meaningful number "Young & Beautiful" went along with the sweet couple playing and dancing with each other, and at that moment, I felt like even though it is wrong, it was right, because it was beautiful. Poor Daisy - I felt her pain when she cried in the sea of clothes.

Boy was I wrong! She turned out to be the most self-centered bitch. It was already bad that she didn't love him enough to confess her love in front of her husband, she then betrayed him by staying with her husband in the end just so she can get away with her crime! Even worst, she pinned everything on DiCaprio by not admitting what she did! 

This leads me to the theme of Humanity - the movie highlights the selfishness of humans and how their greed for money and power unimaginable actions. Oh, I forgot about Lust.

Despite the adornment of colours and perhaps some slight dramatic elements, which one may term as exaggeration, The Great Gatsby presents the realistic of the ugliness of humans in the most idealistic way. I despise almost all the characters in the movie and really, I am just glad that my life is mostly filled with people like Carraway and Gatsby - makes life worth living.

Sadly the more I delve into the corporate world, the more politics I discover and the more disgusted I feel. People are just controlled by a few things - greed, fame and lust and in the end, they lose themselves to the deception of these perceived benefits.

Although not distinctive in the movie, but I think friendship is another main theme in the movie. And I admire the bond between Carraway and Gatsby - their friendship. Although it might seemed like a bad ending, if I were Gatsby, I think I am blessed for a friend like Carraway. It shows how much Gatsby trusted Carraway when he shared his biggest secrets (his background) with him. That is a trust that only good friends have. And without friendship, the story of Gatsby would have never been told.

Characters

As I move on to Characters, I can't help but still feel a deep hatred for Daisy Buchanan. She is just a repulsive character that I wish I could rear naked choke. At the beginning, she was portrayed with such sweetness, to a point where I believed her innocence and that she was forced into a marriage - to a point I felt sorry for her because her husband cheated on her. Later I found out that her love for a person would not surpass her love for money - for she doesn't love a person for who he is inside, but rather what he owns or has to promise her a comfortable, worry free life.

Her character was further demoted when she did not call Gatsby at all even though he was waiting hopefully for her call. She didn't even dared/bothered to visit Gatsby on his deathbed - Gatsby the man who has sacrifice his whole future and life for her. Even more disappointing and puts her to the most shameful pit, is when she left with her cheating husband to escape taking responsility over the crime she committed - where she knocked down and killed his husbabnd's mistress. That's not all! She pinned all of that on Gatsby, leaving him to die disgracefully among the eyes of the public. If I have to choose a villain for the movie, I'd say she's on top of Thomas Buchanan. Thomas is damn right evil, but this lady, she is the "femme fatale" that is filled with all sweetness, but has the worst motive at the back of her head.

The main character Gatsby is an inspiration, yet, I do not want to be like him. He loves too deeply, and I still believe that one is a fool to think like him. In fact, one may argue that his character is unrealistic, mainly because in this time and age, one may not be able to find someone like him anymore - someone who would sacrifice it all just for a woman, and someone who would stay so loyal even after all these years.

Therefore, although he is the main character, and also deemed, The Great Gatsby, in truth, there might not be one as great as him.

My favourite character in the entire movie is Nick Carraway and the reason is obvious - I can relate to him the most. His character is real and I believe many of us can actually fit his shoe. I watched as he transitioned from a young, innocent, happy-go-lucky man (like how I once were) to a person who is sick and tired of people - their selfishness, inhumanity, greed, infidelity etc. He became a very angry person, somewhat like who I am now, because of the ugliness surrounding him. I can almost feel how he felt towards the end of the movie, when he did not want to enter the house with Jordan and he also screamed at her. Sometimes, that's how I feel about certain people around me - I just dislike the negative notion that they carry around. Makes me feel even more disgusted when I find out about their motives and acts. Just like Carraway, I so wish to run away.

That's why I like Nick; he makes me feel included in the movie. He makes me feel normal. But I have learned to be happier again - I am moving towards achieving peace but not wanting to care so much about things that doesn't involve me or don't matter. I've learned to enjoy being alone and do things that makes me happy. Just like Nick - instead of a promising job that makes tonnes of money, he opted to do what he has always wanted, and what makes him happy - write.

In general, I love the mysterious start to the movie - keeps you guessing what is the secret that Gatsby has. His facial expressions and his telephone calls make one very curious about what his motive is and why he has been 'stalking' Carraway. Of course, it helps that I did not read its synopsis or watch its trailer before watching. I like the mystery.

Indulging further, The Great Gatsby, minus the colours, could actually pull off as a film noir with a few prominent characteristics.

The background music selections were brilliant. The scene with the song "Young and Beautiful" by Lana Del Ray still vividly plays in my head now and it would, for me be one of the most beautiful scene I've ever watched these few years, second only to "Paradise" by Coldplay in The Life of Pi. I was just upset that the revelation of Daisy Buchanan's true colours distorted the perfection and pureness of that scene.

The party scenes were filled with grandeur that you feel like you are a part of it. I must say, it was pretty well done.

I am very curious why the book started off as a flop. I think it is great literary work which so many things to explore and discuss in terms of themes, characters and value. They should in fact introduce this into our very own Malaysian syllabus for Literature. I am sure all the students will have great fun!

There is no other way to close this, but to say that it is a must watch. It might not end up as one of your favourites, because it might not be your genre of movie, but I still think there is production value. It is more than just a romantic flick really - it delve so much more deeper into the values and dilemmas of humanity.

Added in Oct 20, 2013

Later, I discovered this clip on the alternate ending which was deleted from the movie. Beautiful few seconds with James' dad, that although wasn't in the movie, deserve a mention.

TC-My Ratings: