As a Baz Luhrmann fan, I was greatly disappointed in THE GREAT GATSBY. Visually stunning as usual, the story itself felt stilted and grossly miscast, something I rarely think when it is Leonardo DiCaprio in the role. But, much like MOULIN ROUGE, you are so entranced by the dazzling show on display that you sometimes overlook the substance in favor of the style. THE GREAT GATSBY as a novel is about the lack of substance, which may have been the movie’s downfall.
But again, on the visual side, the movie delivered on all counts. Luhrmann’s trademark zoom outs and dance numbers are on display in the hyper-stylized world of 1920s New York. Of course there was going to be a large amount of green screen to recreate this historic period, but it is amazing just how much was used. I mean, I am not a sucker and I could spot the obvious scenes using CGI in THE GREAT GATSBY, but I didn’t realize it was practically every single scene.
Effects supervisor Chris Godfrey has posted a before and after video showing some of these 1500 effects shots and the results are astounding. I truly did not expect this much of the film to have been fake. So, maybe THE GREAT GATSBY is an achievement after all. Luhrmann successfully transported us to the 1920s using almost nothing but costumes, effects, and acting. Check out the video and see if you are as impressed as I am.
