The Great Gatsby on the Big Screen

       I've been hearing a lot about the new Great Gatsby movie that is supposed to be coming out sometime this year and since we just read the book in American Studies class, I figured I would look up the trailer. The movie was directed by Baz Luhrmann, who I know also helped create the movies Moulin Rouge! and Romeo + Juliet. I know from seeing both productions that he has a flare for colorful and extravagant looking movies, so I'm interested to see what his take on this classic novel will be. Below is the trailer for the movie:

      There are a few things about the trailer that struck me. First, was the various flashes of the party scenes, which seemed even more exuberant and crazy than I imagined. Second, was the flashes of the character Jordan, the first one being at 26 seconds. She seemed to be described as more masculine in the book, but in the trailer we see her as quite thin and delicate. Lastly, was the shot we see of Gatsby at 44 seconds as he watches the party from a window in his house. This reminded me of the line in the book where Nick is observing the party and he sees Gatsby, "standing alone...looking from one group to another with approving eyes" (54). Gatsby is somewhat of a lonely man who always seems to prefer to observe his parties from afar rather than actually partake in them and I thought this was captured beautifully in that moment of the trailer. I am interested to see how the rest of the movie turns out and if it holds true to my previous notions of the book. (This is a somewhat short post with little analysis mostly because I want to simply point out various moments I noticed and allow readers to interpret what they have seen).

How has the trailer met your expectations of the books? What characters did you find different from your previous perceptions? What moments of the book do you think will be the most challenging to portray on screen?