The Great Gatsby
Julia Trotter, Jordan Nash, and Tamera White
Gatsby and Daisy Reunite : Scene Analysis
Significance of scene: Gatsby is finally getting what he wants, to see and be with Daisy again but it is just so painfully awkward it actually hurts to watch. This helps Fitzgerald because it shows that people sometimes have unrealistic expectations about how their lives should be. It also criticizes people for being so self obsessed on a day to day basis.
Theme: The overall theme that is emphasized is that Gatsby is finally being able to live his dream, but it is not how he expected it to be. He is realizing that they cannot just pick up from where they left off.
Overall Effect: This scene was extremely helpful in getting the audience to understand how completely utterly obsessed Gatsby was. It also helps to explain in a visual sense how awkward the situation was with a rich scammer and an unhappily married woman who want different lives but are unable or unwilling to change their fate.
Suggestions: A majority of the movie was shot on a green screen, it might have been better if the actors were working with actual sets and not partial ones. In addition, this version of the movie tied in a lot of modern music, which could possibly take away from the effect of this classic book.
Deleted Scene : Gatsby Meets Daisy's Daughter
Actors/Actresses: We chose these actors because DiCaprio and Mulligan already play those characters and Talerico because she looks like the part and is young enough to play the character. She also has experience working in "big time" shows as a child actress.
Achievements: This scene shows how Gatsby is forced to understand that no matter what he wants to have happened time has passed and Daisy has a life, a family and that does not have anything to do with Gatsby. She has roots that she cannot leave behind. It is the first crack in Gatsby's dream.
Daisy
Gatsby
Pammy
Related Works
Richard Cory
Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.
And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
"Good-morning," and he glittered when he walked.
And he was rich - yes, richer than a king -
And admirably schooled in every grace;
In fine we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.
So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.
- Edwin Arlington Robinson –
Thematic Link: Both men, Gatsby and Cory, had way more money than sense. They were obsessed with having the best of everything, or getting everything they wanted, that it ruined their lives. Both men under appreciated what they had.
Literary Criticisms
- Essentially, the author of this article claims that Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” is overread and does not have anything incredibly special about it, unlike other recognized literary works of this time period. It is basically “a 150 page romance beach read” that is shoved in teenager’s faces in high school with no point.
- The author of this literary review is basically saying that the book is very similar to “Romeo and Juliet,” by both stories, “are obsessed with time.” The author then is in essence saying that he can relate to Gatsby’s situation about wanting to relive the past and that he wants to hate the characters, but the way that Fitzgerald describes them, he can’t hate them. Overall this author believes that The Great Gatsby is beautifully written, and is, “like a work of poetry.”
- Scott F. Fitzgerald is still seen as a very influential writer, especially during his time. Despite this, or perhaps because of this his newest novel is heavily read and criticized. The article hints at the above especially after interviewing Gertrude Stein who was one of the few to see Gatsby as a great novel during its actual time period.
Movie Criticisms
- This movie critique claims that that movie was charming, despite some bad reviews. He says that people can’t help but fall in love with the story, and watch as the character’s lives fall apart. Dicaprio brings a wonderful new light to Jay Gatsby, and the story itself. In general, he says that Gatsby is “represented in a way exactly as it should be.”
- This movie review is fundamentally saying that Luhrmann did a fantastic job of conveying the “American Dream.” The author of the critique likes the good choices of actors and actresses that play the main roles. He also points on the hip-hop music, and the “immersive 3D,” because at the time it must have felt that way for the people, and the audience just, “can’t help falling in love with it.”
This movie is very visually ambitious especially considering that the set is made up almost entirely from green screen. All the leading and almost lead characters are strongly well developed. With such good development it’s not a surprise that the chemistry between all of them can easily be seen on the big screen. The movie also does a good job of encompassing the underlying causes of tension and dismay during the 1920’s.