The Great Great Gatsby

Movie Critic.

 

The Great Gatsby.

There seems to be a consensus within the movie of the suspension of the understanding of who Gatsby is. The first few minutes has you wondering if you will  see Gatsby at all until perhaps the very end where he will appear and disappoint us all. But Gatsby appears when you least expect him, right after the first few minutes. This suspension leads to a kind of melancholia as one is waiting and wishing for the protagonist to show himself, not know whether he will or he won’t. When the protagonist finally does show up on the screen one is left with awe and wonder at the fact that he appeared at all, and one is relieved that the story can go on.

There is a sense of the party ethic in the 20^th century ballroom dancehall format. There is concert pianist playing Bethovhen symphonies shadowed by the sense of the 21^st century disc jockey. Gatsby is young and fit, quite contrary to the opinion of some within the movie and without the movie that he is Old and fat. He lives in a palace and he is oxford educated, and has an acute sense of hearing, perhaps psychic even, but undeveloped, merely superficial.

The movie has an interesting mix of musical styles in the form of modern operatic theatre in such varieties in the manner of Florence and the Machine. To the downright early 2000s contemporary in the form of Jay Z, shouting his mantra H to the Izzo. Ofcourse this all blends nicely to the form of the movie which takes on a Moulin rougeske style longing for the future in a world that exists in the past, and rooted in the present.

Perhaps the most telling scene of the state of the protagonist and his sidekick come at a gather of prominent figures in city of which they live. Here we see the commissioner and a senator as well as the most gripping performance by an Indian movie icon in Amitabh Bachan. For all of bollywoods terrible acting jobs, here Amitabh, the godfather of Indian cinema holds his own in a world he cannot possible understand due to its complexity. But his performance holds gravitas and takes the viewer on a journey of what its like to outperform seasoned veteran actors in your first real test as an actor.

In darkness I have wept for the bond of life I accept this lonely paradise.

Rohan Ravi.

Musical Score 3.5/5

Acting 4/5

 
Entertainment Value 5/5

Screenplay 3.5/5

Overall 4.5/5