A fastidious look on The Great Gatsby

1. Who wrote the novel and who directed the film?

F. Scott Fitzgerald was born on September 24, 1896, in St. Paul. Minnesota. His parents were Mary “Mollie” McQuillan and Edward Fitzgerald. Mary came from a wealthy family, while Edward held multiple failed careers; causing the family to bounce between states. Fitzgerald went to school at St. Paul’s Academy, then on to the Newman School, and finally to Princeton. Obsessed with writing, Fitzgerald dropped out of University, then decided to join the US Army. Stationed at Camp Sheridan as a second lieutenant, Fitzgerald continued writing and finished his first novel, The Romantic Egotist. The original novel was rejected, but later accepted as, This Side of Paradise, turning Fitzgerald into an “overnight success.” The novel success allowed for Fitzgerald and Zelda Sayre to get married. The couple had one child, Frances Scott “Scottie” Fitzgerald, but were not happy. After their move to Europe, Zelda suffered a nervous breakdown. She spent most of the rest of her life in metal health hospitals. Later in his life, Fitzgerald suffered from alcoholism, and died from a heart attack in 1940.

Mark Anthony Luhrmann, also known as, Baz Luhrmann, was born on September 17, 1962, in Sydney, Australia. Luhrmann went to school at St. Joseph’s Hastings Regional, and then St. Paul’s College, Manly. In 1985, Luhrmann graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Arts in Kensington, NSW, Australia. Luhrmann is married production designer Catherine Martin; they have two children together. Baz Luhrmann has only directed five major motion pictures. Three of them: Strictly Business (1992), Romeo + Juliet (1996), and Moulin Rouge! (2001) make up his “Red Curtain Trilogy.” Finally, in 2013 Luhrmann dire...

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...h of Gatsby is not something filmmakers could ever get away with changing. (Although I have zero confidence in filmmakers leaving endings alone.) So, the only thing missing from the ending of the film is Henry Gatz. Mr. Gatz is an important foil to Gatsby’s life; and would have juxtaposed Gatsby’s persona effectively. Also, adding Mr. Gatz could have solved the previously stated problem of the sanatorium. Instead of telling some random doctor about Gatsby, Nick could have been addressing Gatsby’s father. It would have made much more sense to explain Jay Gatsby’s life to his father, then to add the sanatorium and fictional alcoholism to Nick’s character. Baz Luhrmann created an amazing adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Minus the music, missing father and an alcoholic Nick, and the movie is as close to perfect as a film adaptation can get.