Lost Generation discussion

88 years ago today, The Great Gatsby was published. What are your thoughts on the film adaption that is being released in May? Are you excited? Are you nervous skeptic?

Oh, wow! I wasn't aware of this movie & tried to watch the trailer, but couldn't even finish it. Ugh. Really rotten casting in my opinion, kind of the way F.Scott felt about the original, a talkie. Here's a short clip:
http://gothamist.com/2013/04/09/heres...

I'm awaiting the film with a certain amount of queasy anxiety. What strikes me about the trailer for the Luhrmann version, as about Jack Clayton's 1974 film with Mia Farrow and Robert Redford and Sam Waterston, is that the filmmakers don't trust the text. They overload it with too many effects (Luhrmann), too much makeup and hairdos and costuming (Clayton), too much spectacle (1926 version).

Anyone who saw (maybe experienced is a better word) "Gatz," the Elevator Repair Service's extraordinary dramatized version of the entire text of the novel (go here for a review, http://theater.nytimes.com/2010/10/07..., and here for a clip: http://vimeo.com/20560043), knows that Fitzgerald's words have all the drama, all the color, all the characterization, all the tragedy and violence and heartbreak you could ever want. All you have to do as a filmmaker is TRUST them. Respect them. Let them breathe.

Film people seem to have less problem doing that with Shakespeare than with Fitzgerald.

Amanda, I certainly understand how you feel about filmakers veering so far from the written text, but I believe they must, in today's world of FAST. There has to be more action in each second of filming in order to keep the modern audience's attention. Even I, a sometime Luddite, find myself fast-forwarding old movies on TCM! The ability to have everything super-quick has a real impact on filmmaking.
I was sitting in Central Park a few years back when a film studio employee with a video cam asked if I would watch a few clips & then tell him what I got from it. It was to test just how much they could cram into each shot.
I must say that speed does increase the rate of seeing these things, I just don't know if it also reduces absorption.

I like Carrie Mulligan as Daisy and Toby Maguire as Nick, but I don't feel Leo DiCaprio was the right choice for Gatsby.

Charlotte, my comment was less about quantity and speed, and more about quality: I think, in fact, that there's often LESS action when the filmmaker pads the film with unnecessary effects and glitz. Trust the STORY, is what I'm trying to say. Trust the thing that drew you as a filmmaker to the project in the first place, And don't guck it up with a lot of extra stuff (that takes a long time to watch) in the name of making it "watchable." Look at Tom Stoppard's screenplay for "Parade's End," or Ian McEwen and Christopher Hampton's for "Atonement," or (in a very different style) Ben Affleck's script for Dennis Lehane's "Gone Baby Gone." Obviously you have to cut things, and shape them for film (as a screenwriter, I do understand the constraints of film on narrative); and my citation of "Gatz" wasn't because of its length and detail, but because in it you saw how wonderfully well those scenes worked as drama with the bare minimum of props, scenery, costuming, or effects.

I see your point, Amanda, but still feel that being true to the story is pushed aside in many instances just for packing more in.
Of course, "Parade's End" must have been quite a challenge, wordy as the book is. Stoppard's adaptation was brilliant with White's direction adding even more to the production. I can't even begin to think how one compresses so much of a story into a decent screen version as they did so well.
Cheers!

This article about the film by American literature scholar James L. West makes me feel better, for now: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-l...

Amanda, you are wonderful. Changed my whole outlook on the film. Now will have to see it. Thanks so much, great piece.

Here's a fun look at various "Gatsby" covers:


http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/20...

One of those covers is now the cover for Tender is the Night

Ok, now that has to make you the cleverest Gatsbyist! Which one?

Second row first one on the left

The one with the guy and gal looking out at the water

I have to admit I'm looking forward to the new Gatsby movie mostly for costumes and set design. But am not happy at all about the music choices. I love some of the artists, but 20's music is so fabulous already, why not just use it?? :( :(