Although the main story was kept the same in the newest version of The Great Gatsby there were plenty of changes that really made things interesting for those of us who had just read the book.
The one that I thought was the most intriguing was the idea that Nick had mental illness after it all happened. The doctor's notes had the fact that he was a major alcoholic with other mental problems going on. I think this play on it was really crucial to how the story was told. In the novel, we saw things from Nick's perspective, and I enjoyed reading how he always got stuck in the middle of bad situations. Seeing it from his point of view really enhanced the story, as an outsider would have very different observations from somebody who was in the action.
The fact that Nick was in a mental institution made it very easy to tell the story from his perspective. I'd be willing to bet that Luhrmann didn't want to get rid of the narration by Nick (since it adds so much to the story we might not otherwise see), so the decision to include mental illness provided a way to have him explain the story. It also gave him a chance to put Nick in as the author as some form of therapy, which might explain why the descriptions were so darn interesting in the book.
I know that some people didn't like the idea of Nick having a mental illness, but I actually think it added plenty to the story that may have been left out if he hadn't been the narrator in the movie. Having it told from a third person perspective would not provide the background information, and it might make the super rich seem much less despicable.
My favorite line in both the book and movie is "They were careless people, Tom and Daisy- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made."
That particular line is one of those "drop the mic" lines. It is just so darn heavy with truth, and it really made the idea of them being careless about others very apparent. If that particular line hadn't been included in the movie (if Nick weren't in a mental health institution and narrating) it would be really hard to convey just how careless they are. Most people would find it easy to conclude that they were careless people, but this particular quote makes it even more real.
I think that the fact that Nick was portrayed as having a mental illness was interesting. Baz Luhrmann needed to be able to put a personal spin on the story in order to make it his own, and I feel that giving Nick a mental illness was a simple and effective way to do so. I agree with your statements about the illness adding to the movie as a whole because we were able to hear multiple quotes from Nick that came out of the book and the story was still able to be told in his perspective, which is hard to find in a movie. This strategy reminded me a lot of Forrest Gump because he tells his story through memories as well. I think both movies were successful in the fact that we were able to have more of a connection to the characters and the stories because we hear them being told personally.
ReplyDeleteOverall, I very much agree with you, and I think Nick's mental illness added a lot to what I would call a successful movie.