Directed by: Baz Luhrmann
Produced by: Lucy Fisher, Catherine Knapman, Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, Douglas Wick
Screenplay by: Baz Luhrmann, Craig Pearce
Based on: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, et al.
Runtime: 2 hrs 23 mins
Get Ready to Watch >>> The Great Gatsby 2013 Full
The Great Gatsby is a 2013 Australian-American[3] 3D drama film based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel of the same name. The film was co-written and directed by Baz Luhrmann, and stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton, and Elizabeth Debicki.[4] It follows the life and times of millionaire Jay Gatsby and his neighbour Nick, who recounts his encounter with Gatsby at the height of the Roaring Twenties. The film was originally going to be released on December 25, 2012, but moved to May 10, 2013 in 3D. While the film received mixed reviews from critics, audiences responded much more positively,[5] and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s granddaughter praised the film, stating “Scott would have been proud”.[6] As of 2014, it is Baz Luhrmann’s highest grossing film to date, earning over $350 million worldwide.[7] At the 86th Academy Awards, it was nominated for Best Production Design and Best Costume Design, winning both.
In the winter of 1929, Nick Carraway, a Yale University graduate and World War I veteran, is staying at a psychiatric hospital to treat his alcoholism. He talks about Jay Gatsby, describing him as the most hopeful man he had ever met. When he struggles to articulate his thoughts, his doctor, Walter Perkins, suggests writing it down, since writing is Nick’s true passion.
In the summer of 1922, Nick moves from the U.S. Midwest to New York taking a job as bond salesman after abandoning writing. He rents a small house on Long Island in the (fictional) village of West Egg, next door to a lavish mansion belonging to Jay Gatsby, a mysterious business magnate who often holds extravagant parties. One day, Nick drives across the bay to East Egg to have dinner with his cousin, Daisy Buchanan, and her husband, Tom, a college acquaintance of Nick’s. They introduce Nick to Jordan Baker, a cynical young golfer with whom Daisy wishes to couple Nick.
Jordan tells Nick that Tom has a mistress who lives in the “valley of ashes,” an industrial dumping ground between West Egg and New York City. Not long after this revelation, Nick travels with Tom to the valley, where they stop by a garage owned by George Wilson and his wife, Myrtle, who is Tom’s lover that Jordan mentioned. Nick accompanies Tom and Myrtle to an apartment they keep for their affair. Myrtle throws a vulgar and bizarre party with her sister Catherine, that ends with Tom breaking Myrtle’s nose as she taunts him about Daisy.
As the summer progresses, Nick receives an invitation to one of Gatsby’s parties. Upon arriving, he learns that he is the only one who received an invitation, and that none of the guests have ever met Gatsby. There are multiple theories as to who he is: a German spy, a prince, even an assassin. Nick encounters Jordan, and they meet Gatsby, who is surprisingly young and rather aloof. Gatsby’s butler later informs Jordan that Gatsby wishes to speak with her privately.
Gatsby seemingly takes a liking to Nick, inviting him out on numerous occasions. Gatsby introduces him to Meyer Wolfsheim at a speakeasy, a mob boss and business partner Gatsby claims fixed the 1919 World Series. Gatsby tells Nick he was born to wealthy parents who have since died. During their lunch, they run into Tom Buchanan. Gatsby appears uncomfortable throughout the exchange. Jordan later tells Nick that Gatsby had a relationship with Daisy five years earlier, and is still in love with her. Gatsby had been throwing the extravagant parties in the hopes Daisy will attend. Gatsby later asks Nick to invite Daisy to tea at his house, without mentioning that Gatsby will be there.
After an awkward reunion, Gatsby and Daisy begin an affair. Gatsby is rather dismayed that Daisy wants to run away from New York with him, as his initial plan being for them was to live in his mansion. Nick tries to explain to Gatsby that the past cannot be repeated, but he dismisses the remark. Trying to keep the affair a secret, Gatsby fires the majority of his servants and discontinues the parties. Eventually, he phones Nick and asks that he and Jordan accompany him to the Buchanan’s’, where they plan to tell Tom that Daisy is leaving him. Nick is hesitant, but Gatsby insists they need him.
During the luncheon, Tom becomes increasingly suspicious of Gatsby when he sees him staring passionately at Daisy. Daisy stops Gatsby from revealing anything about their relationship, and suggests they all go into town. Everyone leaves for the Plaza, Tom driving Gatsby’s car with Nick and Jordan while Gatsby and Daisy take Tom’s car. Out of gas, Tom stops at George and Myrtle’s garage, where George says he and his wife are moving west, much to Tom’s concern. George also voices his suspicions to Tom that his wife may be cheating on him, not knowing that Tom is Myrtle’s lover.
At the Plaza, Gatsby tells Tom that he and Daisy are together, claiming that she never loved him. Outraged, Tom accuses Gatsby of making his fortune illegally through bootlegging with his mobster friends. Daisy tells Gatsby that she loved him and still loves him, but she cannot claim that she never loved Tom even once. Tom promises that he loves Daisy and that he will take better care of Daisy as Daisy reminds him of his faults in their marriage. As Tom tells Gatsby that he is different from them due to his dubious background, Gatsby lashes out at Tom, frightening Daisy. She leaves with Gatsby, this time in his car. After the fight, Nick realizes that it is his thirtieth birthday.
Later that night, Myrtle leaves her husband, after a fight, rushing out onto the street. She sees Gatsby’s yellow car approaching and runs toward it, believing Tom is driving and had come for her. She is struck and killed instantly. Afterwards, Tom, Nick, and Jordan stop by the garage when they see a large crowd has gathered and learn about Myrtle’s death. Hurt with his mistress’ death, Tom tells George, her widowed husband, that the yellow car belongs to Gatsby, in the effort to hide his affair and tells George that Gatsby may have been sleeping with Myrtle.
Nick finds Gatsby lingering outside the Buchanan’s mansion, where Gatsby accidentally reveals that Daisy was the driver, though he intends to take the blame. Gatsby is convinced Daisy will call him the next day. He ultimately tells Nick of his “origins:” that he was born penniless, his real name is James Gatz as well as the true reason why he could not return to Daisy after the war. Gatsby tells Nick that he asked Daisy to wait for him, as he wanted to make something of himself to be worthy of her, and soon after he met Meyer Wolfsheim and entered his “business.” Gatsby also asks Nick to check on Daisy, where he eavesdrops on her conversation with Tom, promising her that he will take care of everything much to Nick’s disappointment. However, he refuses to tell Gatsby about this since his friend hopes for Daisy’s call.
The next morning, Gatsby decides to go for a swim before the pool is drained for the season. He hears the phone ringing, and, believing it is Daisy, climbs out of the pool as the butler answers the phone. Gatsby is abruptly shot and killed by George, who then shoots himself dead. Nick had been the one who called and heard two gunshots.
When Nick invites Daisy to Gatsby’s funeral, he learns that she, Tom, and their daughter are leaving New York. The funeral is attended only by reporters and photographers, whom Nick angrily chases out. The media accuses Gatsby of being Myrtle’s lover and the one who killed her, leaving Nick the only person knowing the truth. Nick is then the only person Gatsby was left with. Disgusted with both the city and its people, he leaves New York, but not until he takes a final walk through Gatsby’s deserted mansion; reflecting on Gatsby’s unique ability of having hope and how he lost everything. Back in the sanatorium, he finishes his memoir and initially titles it “Gatsby,” then takes out a pen to re-title it, “The Great Gatsby.”
