The Great Gatsby - My Own Post

After reading The Great Gatsby I straight away went to watch the trailer for the new film. I wanted to see after reading the book how it was interpreted into modern film, which sometimes can be a total success or a complete failure. It's the case most of the time that the book is always better than the film as it can't always be represented to it's full potential. The reason I decided to look at the way the book has been put onto the big screen is because there are so many different ways that you can portray characters and locations from books from your own imagination and understanding of the text.

There have been two adaptions of the book into film, the first film was released in 1974 and has a very vintage feel to it. The 2nd and the more present version is the newest and undoubtably better produced version of the novel. It is said that the novel is still relevant today with the introduction of movies like this that will also introduce the story to a new generation of people; some of  which haven't read the book and some (children/teenagers) who have never heard of the novel before.
Originally I had my own image of all the characters and locations in The Great Gatsby and it's almost weird to see how they have been interpreted into the movie, for example I would have never chosen Leo DiCaprio as the role of Jay Gatsby because I always saw him as a slightly older man with a more powerful demeanour. It's from within these actors and actresses that help you understand the story in more depth. The idea is that the morales of the story are given in a way that a new generation can understand and consider. Although the American Dream and the Jazz age of the 20s are irrelevant today, through film The Great Gatsby can be told again to a newer audience and have it's ideas and premises explained, it could also help reintroduce the idea of the American Dream and explain to people that not everyone succeeds, and corruption and greed aren't necessarily the greatest ways in achieving that.

In my opinion I think that a film adaptation of a book is always a great medium to further engage the audience. It's a great way to take an old text and help explain how it's importance when it was written can be reflected onto a modern society. I still think that when this film is released it will be a great way for people to be introduced to the story of The Great Gatsby so they can learn more into the 'American Dream' and early 20s America.

The Great Gatsby (1974)
The Great Gatsby (2013)
The Great Gatsby Official Website