The Great Gatsby (2013 film)

The Great Gatsby (2013 film) is a romantic drama film directed by Baz Luhrmann, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald, published in Charles Scribner's Sons in 1925. The film features an ensemble cast, including Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby, Tobey Maguire as Nick Carraway, Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan, Joel Edgerton as Tom Buchanan, and Isla Fisher as Myrtle Wilson, set against the backdrop of New York City and Long Island during the Roaring Twenties. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2013, and was released in 3D and 2D formats by Warner Bros. Pictures.

Production

The production of the film began in 2011, with Baz Luhrmann and Craig Pearce working on the screenplay, which was influenced by the works of Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner. The film was shot on location in Sydney, Australia, and New York City, with a budget of $105 million, financed by Village Roadshow Pictures and Bazmark Productions. The film's cinematography was handled by Simon Duggan, who worked with Baz Luhrmann on Moulin Rouge! and Australia (2008 film), and the editing was done by Matt Villa, Jason Ballantine, and Jonathan Redmond, who worked on The Matrix and Cloud Atlas. The film's production design was handled by Catherine Martin, who won the Academy Award for Best Production Design for her work on Moulin Rouge! and The Great Gatsby (2013 film), and the costume design was handled by Catherine Martin and Miuccia Prada, who worked with Baz Luhrmann on Romeo + Juliet and The Great Gatsby (2013 film), and designed costumes for The Devil Wears Prada (film) and The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Plot

The film is set in the summer of 1922, in New York City and Long Island, and follows the story of Nick Carraway, a young Yale University graduate and World War I veteran, who moves to Long Island and becomes fascinated with his neighbor, Jay Gatsby, a wealthy and mysterious man who throws extravagant parties, attended by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway. As the story unfolds, Nick Carraway becomes friends with Jay Gatsby, and learns about his past and his obsession with Daisy Buchanan, who is married to the wealthy and brutish Tom Buchanan, a Harvard University graduate and a member of the old money aristocracy, who is having an affair with Myrtle Wilson, a working-class woman who lives in the Valley of Ashes, a desolate industrial area between Long Island and New York City. The film explores themes of love, greed, class, and the corrupting influence of wealth, set against the backdrop of the Roaring Twenties, a period of great social change and cultural upheaval in United States, marked by the rise of Jazz music, Flapper culture, and the Harlem Renaissance.

Cast

The film features an ensemble cast, including Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby, Tobey Maguire as Nick Carraway, Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan, Joel Edgerton as Tom Buchanan, and Isla Fisher as Myrtle Wilson, as well as Jason Clarke as George Wilson, Amitabh Bachchan as Meyer Wolfsheim, and Elizabeth Debicki as Jordan Baker, a professional Golf player and a friend of Daisy Buchanan. The cast also includes Jack Thompson as Dr. Walter Perkins, a Harvard University professor and a friend of Nick Carraway, and Barry Otto as Ben McKee, a Jazz musician and a friend of Jay Gatsby.

Music

The film's soundtrack features a mix of Jazz music, Blues music, and Hip hop music, with songs by Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Lana Del Rey, and Florence + The Machine, as well as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Cole Porter, who were popular Jazz musicians during the Roaring Twenties. The film's score was composed by Craig Armstrong and Antony Partos, who worked with Baz Luhrmann on Moulin Rouge! and The Great Gatsby (2013 film), and the soundtrack was produced by Jay-Z and The Bullitts, a Music production company founded by Jeymes Samuel and Lucy Liu.

Release

The film was released in 3D and 2D formats by Warner Bros. Pictures on May 10, 2013, and premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2013, where it was screened out of competition, along with The Bling Ring (film) and Behind the Candelabra. The film was also screened at the Tribeca Film Festival and the Sydney Film Festival, and was released in Australia and United States on May 30, 2013, and in United Kingdom and Canada on June 14, 2013.

Reception

The film received mixed reviews from critics, with some praising its visual style and performances, while others criticized its pacing and lack of depth, comparing it to other F. Scott Fitzgerald adaptations, such as The Great Gatsby (1974 film) and The Great Gatsby (2000 film). The film was a commercial success, grossing over $348 million worldwide, and was nominated for two Academy Awards, including Academy Award for Best Production Design and Academy Award for Best Costume Design, which were won by Catherine Martin and Beverly Dunn, who worked on The Grand Budapest Hotel and The Great Gatsby (2013 film). The film also won several other awards, including the BAFTA Award for Best Production Design and the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Art Direction, which were presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and the Broadcast Film Critics Association.