The Great Gatsby

[sandyRoe]

There was an interview on the TV news with Leonardo DeCaprico talking about his role in the film. While I wasn't giving it my full attention, it seems this part is now considered to be on a par with Lear or Hamlet when it comes to defining the career of thespians. When did this come about?

[rockyracoon]

I've never understood how the book is so highly regarded, I read it a couple of years ago and didn't think much of it a all.

[gingejbee]

sandy: I was wondering that myself. Also, when did interviewing a film star about a new film become a part of BBC's main news programme?

[FredPuli43]

If it's the test of an actor's abilities then DiCaprio fails it.

The book has subtleties which are difficult to render into film; no version has quite caught them. Baz Lerman is not the director for doing it, that's certain.

The BBC will give items which are of public interest, even the Cannes Film Festival !

[FredPuli43]

I mean Luhrmann, not Lerman ! Well, it sounds the same.

[jno]

it hasn't, as far as I'm concerned. He's a character in a book, not a film, though occasionally it does get filmed. I think I've seen all of them but the current one and none of them really gets it right.

[Booldawg]

I read the book and struggled to find why its regarded as a 'classic' Maybe its used as a literature study on a scholastic curriculum somewhere?

Or maybe it stands out as a classical work of Amercan literature at the time of a dearth in such examples?

[anneasquith]

good morning sandy, nice to see you :)

[Iluvspikey]

Glad I'm not the only one who wonders about the 'great' bit too, Nouveau riche, grubby affairs, bang bang everybody shoots themselves dead. End.
Could't see what was so good about Citizen Kane either.

[Sharingan]

Not my taste in literature. I thought it was dull, it really didn't keep my attention and I was happy when I finished it, so much as I actually like di Caprio ( loved him in Romeo and Juliet etc) I'm not sure I can deal with sitting through a maudlin film of it of my own accord.

[taichiperson]

It's an American thing, us Brits don't get it, I think. I never really 'got' it myself, on film or on the radio when it was broadcast as a play. Just the idle rich farting around.....

[Zacs-Master]

I thought the book was excellent. The description of a man who finds himself in a world he dreamed of joining which eventually detroys him was fascinating. In answer to the OP, I've no idea. I don't take much heed of all that luvvie business.

[Ric.ror]

I thought Robert Redford was almost as handsome in the original as he was in The Way We Were

[woofgang]

cannot stand DiCaprio at any price

[emmie]

it didn't, seeing as how many nice looking but essentially Hollywood types have played the part. Not on a par with Lear, which is a mega role for any actor.

[sandyRoe]

I don't think I've ever read any of Scott Fitzgerald's writings or seen films based on them. This seems to be an old fashioned morality tale where the tragic hero comes to grief because he's a parvenu who doesn't know his rightful place.
A strange story to come out of America where everyone can aspire to be president.

[emmie]

i read it and didn't care for it much, not sure i agree it deserves a title of great American literature, that should go to the likes of Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Gatsby

[FredPuli43]

Somebody mention Citizen Kane ? I reckon it's a great film for those who study a film for how it's made rather than how good the acting, the story, or the entertainment is. Somebody who is fascinated by novel camera angles or clever cutting will think it's marvellous; the rest of us may not. Battleship Potemkin is another film in that category; wonderful cinematic work for its time, but entertainment? No.

[emmie]

i have read various reviews of the film, it's been panned, an expensive turkey, i won't be seeing it anyway, not my cuppa..