Gatsby and Innocence productions Flashcards
1974 TGG - Gatsby
Jack Clayton
Draws on the gangster aspect of his character - long wait to meet, silent butler, Nick feeling afraid/tense when he is called to meet Gatsby at his party
Especially awkward when meeting Nick - not actually upper class
More development of his and Daisy’s relationship, Gatsby afraid to touch her at first (bubble breaking)
His clothes slowly become more dishevelled after Daisy and Tom reunite at home ** clothing motif
Asks ‘Daisy?’ when he hears someone in his house (Wilson)
Focuses on his hand and ring hanging out as his body is taken away
Young children vandalise his house when he is dead - lower class boys - stain of his old self
1974 TGG - Nick
Jack Clayton
- Language from the text - more literal interpretation
- An observer
- Says the final words of the novel to Gatsby directly
1974 TGG - Daisy
Touches Gatsby’s material items before touching his hand
Daisy is complicit in wanting to return to the past - he wears the uniform from when they first met and she wears the dress
Explicitly cries and explains multiple times that ‘Rich girls don’t marry poor boys’
Hugs her children after Wilson appears at her and Tom’s house
1974 TGG - Tom
Confrontationally screams at Gatsby about him being a bootlegger when Gatsby runs after Daisy
Hugs Myrtle after punching her - abusive dynamic
Old money giveaways about Gatsby’s mannerisms - Tom realising immediately
Tom puts fabric over Myrtle’s mouth
Appears the end to shake Nick’s hand and Nick refuses - ‘Gatsby had it coming’
1974 TGG - Wilson
Jack Clayton
Draws on his stupidity and obliviousness - Myrtle flirting in front of him
The scene where he kills Gatsby is shown plainly, grotesque and highlights both the brutality of his death but also Wilson’s delirious delusion as he shoots Gatsby multiple times while anxious and shaking
1974 TGG - Myrtle
Tom tucks her shoulder strap when it falls, upper class modesty/shame in showing off
Less boisterous than book/other movie → instead angry, hysterical, sensual
- Much more vulnerable, draws on her youth, highlights how she is being taken advantage of
Uses Tom’s words - ‘you’re so dumb you don’t know you’re alive’
- Uses the insults from the party (novel) to George’s face directly at home when confronted - ‘you’re not fit to lick my shoe’
Myrtle and Tom’s scenes together contrast Gatsby and Daisy’s with their sensuality as parallel cutscenes
- Myrtle breaks window knocking for tom and injures her hand badly, screaming = More violent
1974 TGG - atmosphere/setting
Not as much granduer as the other movie at the parties - focus on the people, dancing, clothing, legs of women being shown off
1974 changes from the novel
Switches/creates dialogue - Tom’s words to Myrtle, Nick’s final words to Gatsby directly
Focuses on character > plot
New scenes on Tom and Myrtle and Gatsby and Daisy
Presents Daisy as genuinely in love with Gatsby
Not as much granduer as the other movie at the parties - focus on the people, dancing, clothing, legs of women being shown off
- no jordan story progression - G and N directly
- Parallel scenes between Myrtle + Tom and Daisy + Gatsby
- Less green light
- Transition from cracked eyes of T. J. Eckleberg into Gatsby’s broken car glass*** son of God context book (Ernest Renan’s Life of Jesus)
Critics about Baz Luhrman
Deliberate decision to play down Jordan and Nick’s romance for Nick and Gatsby as the ‘central romance’
Sarah Churchwell on films
Professor - misconceptions
Not a tale of star-crossed lovers
Meant to be an ironic novel of satire !!! not a love story to the 1920s
Film versions all get Nick wrong. He is not a loser outsider guy - meant to be cool and everyone wants to be his friend and have his approval
Baz Luhrman 2013
Nick shown as insane - therapy, retrospective, journalling
Ties on unreliability
