Today I saw "Gatsby", the one out in theaters. To be perfectly blunt, the best thing about the modern version is the soundtrack - namely, the song "Young and Beautiful" by Lana Del Rey. The song appears throughout the movie in different versions but nonetheless the lyrics and voice of the singer are hauntingly beautiful. Here is the YouTube of the song:
Now, I have to admit, as a die hard classic movie lover, I am prone to enjoy more of the movies made in the old days. The version "The Great Gatsby" made in 1974 and starring the drop dead hot (young) Robert Redford is my favorite. I almost did not go see this new modern version because I did not think Leonardo DiCaprio could portray a good Gatsby. For starters, look below:
Redford is yes, better looking than DiCaprio, but he also was a great actor...something I do not think DiCaprio is. This is my personal opinion, but if you want to debate then you better go back and look at some Redford's old films such as "Barefoot in the Park" or "This Property is Condemned." Redford just possessed a charm and the believability of a war-time hero that DiCaprio never could. To me, Redford IS the character "Gatsby."
Here are some more photos from the 1974 version:
I do think Carey Mulligan did a fabulous job of playing the innocence, fragility, and ultimate frivolity of Daisy. She was great in several scenes. Also, the fashion in the movie was great! The costume designer actually modeled his designs from Clara Bow, the famous "It girl" of the silent movies of the 1920's. Notice the scarves. Interestingly, F. Scott Fitzgerald described Clara Bow as the "first original flapper."
I highly recommend checking out the movie "It" starring Clara Bow if you like "The Artist" or are interested in 1920's culture and fashion. She was a truly great actress and mostly forgotten by Hollywood once "talkies" became the norm.
So, all in all, it was a good movie to watch, but the song "Young and Beautiful" added more depth to the picture than the imagery, acting, or plot.
I liked the ending, in which they summed up the eventual characters of Daisy and Tom. I especially liked how they typed the excerpts directly from Fitzgerald's book on the screen and ended with this one:
"They were careless people, Tom and Daisy - they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money of their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made." F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, Cha. 9
Fitzgerald himself is an interesting character to learn about. I personally feel he modeled the character Daisy after his wife Zelda, who was eventually committed to a sanitarium and died there...but I will save a discussion about him for a different post. However, to end, I think it appropriate to end with the man who created this beautiful tale - here is a picture of F.Scott Fitzgerald, one of the great American writers from the 1920's jazz age and whose work, we can see, lives on.
(September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940)
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