The all-American novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald tells the classic story of immense wealth and equally extensive loss through the eyes of Nick Carraway. Because of this, many film adaptations have been attempted, though few remain very true to the novel’s main intent and style. For example, the 1974 version and the 2013 film both show the exact same story yet attract the audience in different ways. However, the 1974 film of The Great Gatsby holds more true to the source material in conclusive theme, parallel style, credible characterization, and cinematic aspects, therefore making it a more favorable watch than the other. The aspects of each of these films deviate so widely that one can hardly believe they originate from the same …show more content…
For example, in the scene where Daisy and Tom Buchanan first attend one of Gatsby’s parties, the film must show the alienation of those two characters amidst the joyous celebration, since Nick claims he “felt an unpleasantness in the air, a pervading harshness that hadn’t been there before” upon their arrival (Fitzgerald 104). As the couple first walks through Gatsby’s doors overwhelmed and admiring all the celebrities, the film shows them pointing to people, greeting superficially, and commenting on these acquaintances. This part of the scene directly references the beginning of Chapter IV, where Nick describes in copious detail Gatsby’s lavish parties and names the people who usually attend. While Tom and Daisy do not list every single person from this page, they make the same observations, showing how close this version parallels Fitzgerald 's intentions of dialogue and occurrences. The Great Gatsby (1974) creates a more realistic, less fanciful image of wealthy life in the roaring twenties, with historically accurate music and dancing, conversations as described in the book, and clothing resembling what would have been available during the time period. Thus, by dark lighting and the previously mentioned assets, the film successfully follows Fitzgerald’s …show more content…
In reference to the scene where Nick Carraway first attends one of Gatsby’s parties, the 2013 film does not follow Fitzgerald 's mood at all. In the novel, Nick claims that he “was immediately struck by the number of young Englishmen dotted about: all well dressed, all looking a little hungry, and all talking in low, earnest voices to solid and prosperous Americans;” however, in the movie a mad stampede replaces these gentlemen, with crowds shoving and tripping over Nick as he talks to a butler about his invitation (42). Whereas Fitzgerald constructs the image of many large cliques loitering about Gatsby’s house in elegant yet rambunctious celebration, this film adaptation takes this a step too far. While the dialogue remains true and chronological to the source scene, the film did not pay Fitzgerald’s refinement justice by portraying the party as an insane mosh pit. The dancing and music, such as the “twerking” and rap, resembled nothing from this time period, thus diverting the audience’s attention from the actual events, making them question the artistic choices of the director and favor the older
The Great Gatsby was one of many creative stories F. Scott Fitzgerald successfully wrote during his era. The 1920’s brought new things to Fitzgerald and his newly wedded wife, but once all the fame and glamour ended so did they. Fitzgerald’s life eventually came crashing down in depression and misery following the 1920’s, and he would never be the same. Fitzgerald became very vulnerable to this era and could not control himself, which came back to haunt him. Fitzgerald wrote the book in first person limited, and used Nick as his narrator to explain the dramatic story which revolved around the life of Jay Gatsby. Nick told of the roaring 1920’s, and how the wealthy people of New York lived and prospered, just like Fitzgerald. Drinking, partying,
“Laughter is easier, minute by minute, spilled by prodigality, tipped out at a cheerful world. The groups change more swiftly with new arrivals, dissolve and form in the same breath….”(Fitz. 44) In the second party in both the novel and the movie it describes Nick Carraway being the only one to have gotten an invitation. The movie makes the parties seem a lot larger than they seem in the book. Major similarities show in the last party, Daisy and Tom attend Gatsby’s parties in both and in both Tom becomes curious of Gatsby and his career. “I’d like to know who he is and what he does” said Tom in the Novel, “.. and I think i’ll make a point of finding out”(Fitz. 108). The similarities in both are much greater than the
Considering that many authors use figurative language techniques in their writing to help convey a specific message; there is no wonder why Fitzgerald and Twain both use the tools for the purpose of criticising people in more of a low key fashion. Fitzgerald uses many different figurative language devices in The Great Gatsby, like similes. Because it is set in the roaring 20s, partying is a big element to the storyline. When Gatsby throws extravagant parties, Nick thinks to himself “...men and women came and went like moths among the whispering and the champagne and the stars.” (Fitzgerald 44). Nick refers to the social statuses of the young people in the 1920s. It proves that they really just want to party, get wasted, and that they absolutely
Have you ever thought about when a producer makes a movie out from a well- known novel, how many scene will actually stick to the original story? It has been a trend that the movie industries tend to dismiss many details from the original book in order to gain more rating or revenue from the movie. On the other hand, many viewer will argue or dislike the fact that the movie industries disrespect the author of the book. Recently I got the chance to read The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and watch the 2013 version’s movie. While the book and the film are pretty similar; there is one major different between the book itself and the movie.
The Great Gatsby is an American novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald in the early twentieth century. A renowned novel regarded as a literary classic which explores the concept of the American Dream, conveyed through a narrative by Nick Carraway, who unravels the story of Jay Gatsby, a newfound wealthy man in an endeavor to rekindle a romantic relationship with his first love, Daisy Buchannan. The novel is survived by the 2013 Warner Bros. motion picture The Great Gatsby featured Tobey Maguire, Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan. Although both the novel and the film are exemplary works of art, the film supplies a realistic value which the novel fails to produce.
The novel’s main protagonist, Nick Carraway, came from a sophisticated family; however, they didn’t have enough money to be labeled as “Old Money”. Still, in the book, Nick was more stiff-necked and at times, pretentious than his film counterpart. He shows his pretentious ways when he constantly refers to blacks as “Negroes”. He was also very observant, and he wasn’t very playful. His film counterpart, however, is far more playful. He literally jumps on top his cousin, Daisy! “Novel Nick” wouldn’t do such a thing. Also,“Novel Nick” was very judgemental. His film counterpart, however, isn’t as judgemental. In fact, we hear Nick’s inner thoughts more in the novel. The film calls for more spoken interaction between characters, so “Film Nick” doesn’t get the chance to be as judgemental. Lastly, the most striking contrast between the two appeared within the first five minutes of the movie. Nick is obviously adjudicated insane, and he is talking to his psychiatrist. On his psychiatrist’s paper, it says that Nick has a slew of issues, such as being “Morbidly Alcoholic” and having “Random Fits of Anger.” He is telling the story of Gatsby to his psychiatrist. In the novel, there was no reason for Nick telling the sto...
Benjamin Disraeli once said, “the magic of first love is the ignorance that it can never end”. In similar ways, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby and the film The Notebook directed by Nick Cassavetes both share a similar love story producing the idea that first love never dies. Both the novel and the film present the idea of a lower class man falling in love with a wealthy woman. Neither of the men are able to stay with the women due to disapproval. When the men finally reconnect with the women, they realize they are already in a new relationship. Although the women are in different relationships, they know they are still in love with their first love, leaving a conflict for them in the current relationship
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, and Baz Luhrmann’s movie adaption can hardly be compared but the film somewhat stay true to the text. Luhrmann’s movie was fun to watch but it should have had more originality to it from the
“The Great Gatsby “, film adaptation directed by Baz Luhrmann in 2013 is almost as great as the novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1925. The Great Gatsby is a literary classic which is set in the 1920’s in the fictional town of West Egg. The tale is based on Nick Carraway, who is a Midwestern war veteran in the summer of 1922, who finds himself obsessed with the past lifestyle of his mysterious, fabulously and wealthy neighbour Jay Gatsby and his love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan. This film adaptation compared to the novel is a very interesting one. It is also easily understood and keeps the viewers’ attention right through the movie. In this movie the sceneries, in most instances, are very similar to the description stated in the novel. The actors and actresses in this film are well cast in most cases. The costuming was well designed and suited the description of the time period given which was in the 1920s. A very important aspect that must not be ignored is the narration in the film which adds to the effectiveness of the movie.
is Nick. In the novel Nick is a man who comes from a poor family who
Hugh Hefner once said, “I looked back on the roaring Twenties, with its jazz, 'Great Gatsby' and the pre-Code films as a party I had somehow managed to miss.” The parties of the Roaring Twenties were used to symbolize wealth and power in a society that was focused more on materialism and gossip than the important things in life, like family, security, and friends. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, portrays the characters of Tom and Daisy Buchanan as the epitome of the era. The reader sees these characters acting selfishly and trying to meddle with others’ lives. On the other hand, Nick Carraway, the narrator, acts more to help others and act honestly. Initially the reader sees Carraway’s views towards Jay Gatsby as negative as Gatsby’s actions are perceived as being like the Buchanan’s. As the novel moves forward, the reader notices a change in Carraway’s attitude towards Gatsby. Carraway sees Gatsby for whom he truly is, and that is a loving person who only became rich to win Daisy’s heart. But in this the reader also sees how corrupt and hurtful Gatsby’s actions were to the love of his life. Gatsby’s relationship with Daisy reveals that just as Gatsby’s dream of wooing Daisy is corrupted by illegalities and dishonesty, the “American Dream” of friendship and individualism has disintegrated into the simple pursuit of wealth, power, and pleasure.
For example, Leonardo Dicaprio’s character of Gatsby was focused on emotions. I enjoyed that Redford was very calm and cool about everything and the way he approached the character but, Dicaprio made such an open and outgoing character which made the movie more entertaining. DiCaprio captured Gatsby’s intensity and charm and brought out the crazy mood swings and took his character and the audience to a more emotional place. Both Robert Redford and Leonardo DiCaprio had their own way of approaching the character and really selling Gatsby but Leonardo DiCaprios was better. Another reason I prefer the 2013 version of the 74’ is because of the bond and friendship Nick Carraway played by Tobey Maguire and Gatsby had MaGuire was able to bring a true and strong meaning to their friendship that made his and Gatsby’s bond feel organic and real and you were able to see that clearly unlike with Waterston where you just saw the friendship and didn’t feel any emotion. But I felt much more of a connection with his character than I did with the ’74 version. If you have read the book and seen the original film, then you understood where Nick was coming from in the scene where he was furious with Gatsby, after he believe he killed Myrtle only to find out that Gatsby wasn’t the one driving the car that killed Mrytle, MaGuire, did a fantastic job in showing his emotions and how what happened to Myrtle and the person that killed Myrtle affected him. I loved that Nick was a lot more real in this movie. He didn’t hold back and he gave the audience a reaction that anyone in life would have had if they were in his situation. Nick had the major issue of being dragged into situations because of people he knows. I thought Maguire did a great job of showing ...
The story The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott and directed by Baz Lurhmann, is a story narrated in the first person by the character Nick Carraway , about a man called Jay Gatsby , and his love/obsession for a girl called Daisy Fay Buchanan , who is married to a man called Tom Buchanan . In this story, the director uses film techniques like characterization, setting, cinematography, soundtrack, and visual elements to portray particular ideas and themes in the story - but these techniques are over-the-top, inefficient, and sometimes completely unnecessary. Some of the themes of The Great Gatsby that will be discussed here are wealth, hope, and infatuation.
The Great Gatsby is an all time classic in literature and even in film. I selected this film because of how intricate the plot is. The story takes place in the 1920's where the stock market is booming and there was prohibition happening but that didn’t stop people from drinking like mad men . One of the main characters Nick caraway moves to New York right next to Mr. Jay Gatsby without even realizing it until he gets a person invitation to one of his annual parties he throws every weekend. Daisy Buchannan is Nick’s cousin and Tom is daisy’s husband who are both extremely wealthy. The connection between these characters is years ago daisy
From beginning to end, the conception of characters such as Daisy, Gatsby and nick the film desires to illustr...