The Great Gatsby

• Released Internationally on 10/05/13
• Released in Malta by KRS on 25/05/13

Preview (as published 01/05/13 in VIDA Magazine)

This cinematic summer, amidst all the inevitable sequels, prequels and reboots, there are a few standalone giants to look forward to. And there’s no prize for guessing which will be the most lavish, colourful and all-round spectacular. Baz Luhrmann is back.

The man behind one of the best films of the millennium so far (Moulin Rouge!) is now bringing his unique brand of vivid craziness to one of the all-time great stories - F. Scott Fitzgerald's famous tale of society and excess. That the story still resonates nearly a century after its publication is a testament to its relevance, and it has already been adapted numerous times before - most famously in 1974 by Francis Ford Coppola, with Robert Redford in the title role.

Luhrmann teamed up with his regular writing partner Craig Pearce, who had also helped him with the highly original adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. Another returning collaborator from that huge success is Leonardo DiCaprio, who has of course grown in both age and star stature since then, and who will portray the exuberant Gatsby. The narrator role goes to Tobey Maguire (Spider-man), with Carey Mulligan (Drive, An Education) starring as the lovely Daisy who is swept up into Gatsby’s party world. Isla Fisher (Wedding Crashers), Joel Edgerton and Jason Clarke (both recently seen in Zero Dark Thirty) also star.

As with every Luhrmann film, music will be a key player, and for this outing the director enlisted a host of stars, led by superstar rapper Jay-Z, to oversee the music. How the music will reflect the 1920s setting remains to be seen, but for the man who brought Fatboy Slim to the can-can shows of Paris that shouldn’t be a problem. The trailers have so far been stunningly beautiful, and I can’t wait to see this on a massive screen.

Review (24/05/13)

3-word review: Quite Great Indeed.


Anyone sitting down to watch this and expecting a somber, reverential adaptation of the classic should know better. This is Baz Luhrmann, so everything needs to be gorgeous, everything needs to be operatic, and everything needs to sparkle. Thankfully, this is a story that works wonderfully with the Baz treatment.

Purists might balk at the hip-hop sounds that are heard in early twentieth-century New York, and conservatives might have reservations about the unabashed portrayal of ridiculous excess which jars substantially in these times of preached austerity. But ultimately the seamless blend of music genres works wonderfully throughout the film, and the depiction of the absurdity of excess wealth helps drive the story’s message home. Because beneath all the sequins and within all the mansions, this is a timeless tale of wealth, and whether it alone is enough to make a man, irrespective of whether it was inherited, earned or dubiously earned. And as with most tales of the rich, it is also a careful analysis of fair-weather friends and the abuses of hospitality that ensue. The tour of Gatsby’s house, as crafted in this adaptation, manages to be both a beautifully whimsical montage whilst still highlighting the disgusting excess of it all. It’s a fine balance, but Luhrmann pulls it off with aplomb.

DiCaprio, who can’t seem to make any bad films, is a joy to behold as the titular bachelor and legendary party host. He dominates every scene he’s in, also thanks to the masters in the wardrobe department. More importantly, he manages to convey the paralysing insecurity and doubt that is central to his character, as well as all the other problems that us non-billionaires secretly hope the rich face. And he manages to drive the story forward thanks to his very convincing interpretation of Gatsby’s obsession with Daisy.

Daisy, the main female character and the cause of most of the events in the film, gets a very slightly disappointing turnout from Carey Mulligan, but it was always going to be a tall order to manage to be the woman that can fuel such obsession. To help her along, Luhrmann orchestrates one of the most visually magical character introductions I can remember - an introduction that is then topped a few minutes later when we first meet Gatsby. These two scenes, along with a handful of others throughout the film, are such a perfect marriage of colour, acting, set design, music and imagination, they remind us why we head to dark cinemas and gaze up in amazement.

It’s not all fireworks and champagne, of course, and the filmmakers treat the source matter with respect, including a clever nod to the novel’s first cover, carefully watching over proceedings on the road to ruin. Tobey Maguire’s narrator gives us someone to identify with in all this craziness, and he skillfully guides us through the tale with the benefit of hindsight. His arrival at the party to end all parties is a joy to behold, and it’s great that we have him to cling onto.

Ultimately, it’s an excellent story, very well told. Luhrmann’s unique brand of storytelling charges fiercely on, and I for one hope it never fades. It’s not as overall excellent as Moulin Rouge! or Romeo + Juliet, but it’s a huge step up from his more recent Australia, and easily one of the best films of the year so far.

Trailers:

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/wb/thegreatgatsby/

Zero Dark Thirty

• Released Internationally on 01/11/12
• Released in Malta by KRS on 27/02/13

Preview (first published 01/02/13 in VIDA Magazine)

Osama Bin Laden - quite a household name. My guess is that if there’s a more widely recognised name on the planet then it’s probably that of Barack Obama, who was lucky enough (or effective enough?) to be in office when Bin Laden was found. Jokes about being world hide-and-seek champion aside, Bin Laden’s decade in hiding is quite a feat, considering how his face was plastered all over the news, and considering how hungrily the Americans wanted to bring him to justice. Whether being shot by Navy Seals in your hideout is justice or not is another story, but I guess after publicly claiming responsibility for 9/11 he wasn’t expecting to have a fair, quiet, trial.

Anyway, his capture was big news, although the vague way in which it was announced, and in which the body was laid to rest, left a few of us guessing. But the US administration insisted that it was done in a way that would ensure minimal unrest, and we sort of had to take their word for it. In the age of social media, where Saddam Hussein’s hanging and Gaddafi’s last truck ride were splashed, disturbingly, across video sites worldwide, this equally newsworthy end happened in relative silence. That was May 2011.

Fast forward just over a year, and this is the most high-profile film to emerge from the proceedings, with none other than Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) at the helm. Since it’s release, two main focuses of attention have been the acting of Jessica Chastain (The Help), for which she is currently scooping awards, and the torture issue. Whether or not torture methods, such as waterboarding, were used to obtain the information leading to the success of the mission will probably never be known for sure, but the US administration is not too pleased about their inclusion in the film. It all helps the film’s publicity of course.

 

Review (23/02/13)

‘Zero Dark Thirty’ is military speak for half past midnight, which is when the raid on Bin Laden’s compound started. When that moment arrives, the film grows in stature and piles on the tension, and for the last half hour or so of this gripping tale we are treated to a more or less real-time re-enactment of the infamous raid, and Bin Laden’s last moments. An interview with the unnamed ‘shooter’ who was actually responsible for that all-important assassination has revealed that the filmmakers got remarkably close to how the actual raid unfolded, which is an impressive feat considering all the variables and secrecy involved.

This realism, this connection with the very recent past, and the far-reaching importance of the events concerned make this an engrossing and important film to watch, even during the occasional lulls in the narrative which might have crippled a similar effort if it were fiction. The lengthy build-up to the actual raid is of course necessary, and to be fair it is handled slickly, moving along with a brisk pace and managing to depict the duration, the immensity and the impossible odds of the task at hand. The script and direction, as well as convincing acting from even the tiniest roles, help make us care and worry about even minor, nameless characters in this worldwide drama. But ultimately, it is all just build-up, so thankfully the raid itself doesn’t disappoint.

The manhunt is depicted as a complex mix of impressive technology and good old fashioned human error, with an important dose of gut instinct thrown in. Chastain’s portrayal of the central figure of Maya is steely and determined, and in a way might be channelling director Kathryn Bigelow, as she makes spectacular headway in a business dominated by men. As the hunt gets warmer, it’s also great to see the message slowly creeping up the chain of command, with characters who were pushy and apparently all-powerful in the previous scene now humbly grovelling and trying to convince their superiors.

The myth of this infamous man is so great, so universal and so powerful, that only the tiniest glimpses of him are necessary throughout the film. His presence is everywhere, however, and every mention of ‘UBL’ helps remind us that what we are watching is not only highly entertaining, but also very relevant to the news we hear every day and the world we live in.

 

Trailers:

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/zerodarkthirty/