Laura Herrmann

With a huge budget of $ 127 million the Australian director Baz Luhrmann filmed the novel The great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The story line is different in the book to the film because in fact we see a movie , which , above all, in the first hour , almost every second in all respects is just plain extravagant. The " first part " of the film is full of extravagance and glamour. The whole colorful posturing on the screen at the beginning introduces the viewer to that world, with movie stars like Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire it makes the impression of a music video. Because it is so extravagant it is hard for the viewer to build a relationship to the characters because the “setting” is distracting. The true depth of the movie appears much later , when Luhrmann , transforms the initial atmosphere into a true scenery common in the 20s , in fact in a quieter setting , the viewer can finally understand the characters more and show feelings such as sympathy and empathy . Nevertheless this sudden change seems strange after we have just become used to only to the wild parties. " At least this change is made and the rest of the movie has good scenery, setting and camera shots. Especially Leonardo DiCaprio did a great job showing the love he feels during the movie. Personally I enjoyed the movie a lot having watched it when it was just released in the cinema, and now having the chance to read up on it in the book again.