The Great Gatsby review: Better late than never!

Intoxicating. If there’s one word to describe The Great Gatsby, it’s that one (and that’s not just a reference to the copious amounts of booze consumed in the 142-minute epic). Films that stay with you are rather rare to come across.

The ones where the credits roll and the audience is stunned into silence, not quite sure how to react to what they have just seen. It’s not necessarily through fear or shock; it could be a sense of uneasy, confusion or just plain wonder, and these are certainly feelings created by seeing Gatsby on the big screen.

Luhrmann has long told audiences he understands the lavish. Cinematic decadence oozed from not only Romeo & Juliet, but in Moulin Rouge! and Australia also, and Gatsby is no exception. 

Set in the early 20’s, a young, disillusioned war veteran, Nick Carraway tells the story of how he came to New York and was absorbed by the hedonistic nature of his millionaire neighbours to his doctor in a sanatorium. One neighbour that he constantly refers to is the elusive Mr. Gatsby, a fellow spoken about often but never seen. As the film goes deeper into real-time rather than Nick’s recollection, audiences are immersed into Carraway and Gatsby’s fast bond and their short-lived but dramatic acquaintance, intertwined with Nick’s cousin Daisy, a wealthy young woman who seemingly has a unrelenting tie to Gatsby.

Hype surrounding this film seemed to be focussed around no other but Leonardo DiCaprio. Sure, people were discussing it being a Luhrmann, how it would compare to his older pictures. Also, how Tobey Maguire would fare in a much more serious film than we’ve ever seen him in before. But DiCaprio was not only the star of The Great Gatsby; he was already the star of the conversational buzz surrounding it, and he did nothing but achieve pure excellence. In arguably one of his best-played roles to date (it was a good year for the actor, also brilliant in Django Unchained), DiCaprio brought Jay Gatsby much faceted personality to life. A calm, sophisticated gentleman but with a fiery, tempestuous passion burning underneath him. His ability to go between charming the audience and making them feel slightly uncomfortable is faultless.

The soundtrack is really something that makes this film a stylish piece of cinematic production. Produced completely by Jay-Z, and featuring contemporary music artists like Lana Del Rey, Florence & The Machine and Emelí Sande, it is not what audiences would necessarily expect from a film set in the early 20’s, but it works beautifully and only cements Luhrmann’s title of being a unique visionary even further. What is so remarkable at times within the film is its lack of dialogue, but ability to emote so many feelings at once and this is down to the impeccable music choices no doubt.

Luhrmann has always been a somewhat "Marmite" director, dividing audiences and reviewers opinions alike. Many reviews have given his interpretation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic a rather scathing response, suggesting that his over-the-top presentation of the rich in the 20's completely clouds any of the sentiment of the American dream put forward in the original novel. But isn't that the exact point of the novel? That the character of Gatsby was the only one that Nick saw any kind of glimmering hope in, whilst the others would just live on the surface of their wealth in a shallow existence, not really ever thinking beyond day-to-day parties?

(Seeing this film was not enough, and in the space of a week I had seen it twice! Some of my friends have even seen it three times. Because there is so much going on, you're bound to miss something first time round and it only gets better every time you view it. I really, really couldn't recommend it enough).