Baz Luhrmann The Great Gatsby Comparison

The film the Great Gatsby, directed by Baz Luhrmann is a faithful adaptation to the novel the Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The Great Gatsby was published in 1926 and follows a young man named Nick Caraway as he narrates the story telling us about the roaring 1920s and all about the Great Gatsby, that is until the story unfolds and we see who the Great Gatsby really is. The film by Baz Luhrmann is a great example of a faithful adaptation to the novel, as it captures the spirit and ideas that the novel did. Throughout the film version of the Great Gatsby the point of view shown is very similar, this can also be said for the characterisation of most characters especially Daisy. However, the film by Luhrmann differs from the novel

For one Daisy is seen as an up and coming woman especially for the times as she is seen making her own choices, but ultimately her foil, is that she does not want to be in control of her choices and she chooses to be with Tom. But more importantly her character is a representation and a symbol of the American dream that Gatsby has, and shows how he has failed to reach it. The American Dream being that anyone can become wealthy or successful in America if they work hard enough, regardless of there class. In the novel Daisy is a character that is described as beautiful, in particular her voice, which Nick spends a whole paragraph describing “It was the kind of voice the ear follows up and down.” In the film the majority of this representation is left up to the actress, Carey Mulligan and she gives a fairly good performance portraying the character, she certainly looks the part, and her voice while definitely not as extravagant as Nick describes fits the part well. However, The key thing about Daisys character is that she is Gatsby’s American dream. The novel shows us this mostly through Nicks narrations especially about his past and how coming from a poor family being excepted and loved by Daisy would mean that he had finally reached his American dream. In the film we also see this idea slowly revealed and this movie takes advantage to show us Gatsby and Daisys past, visually seeing why Daisy is so important to Gatsby. The film takes what was told during the novel and keeps the character of Daisy extremely similar to her novel version, and is faithful