Friday, May 25, 2012

New Film Adaptation of The Great Gatsby

A new film adaptation of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is slated for release in theaters on December 25, 2012. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby, Tobey Maguire as Nick Carraway and Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan. Baz Luhrmann directed. Other films to his credit are Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge!

The trailer was released this week, and features Jay-Z and Kanye West's No Church in the Wild and Jack White's cover of U2's Love is Blindness.




This is the sixth film adaptation of Gatsby. The first, a silent movie by Herbert Brenon stars Warner Baxter, Lois Wilson, and William Powell. Reviews suggest that it may have been the most faithful adaptation of the novel, but a trailer of the film at National Archives is all that is known to exist. The 1974 version by Jack Clayton is the most famous screen version (so far) which stars Sam Waterston as Nick Carraway, Mia Farrow as Daisy, and Robert Redford as Gatsby. The script was done by Francis Ford Coppola.


Francis Cugat was commissioned to illustrate the cover of Gatsby. It has become one of the most celebrated jacket art in American literature. Fitzgerald was still writing the novel at the time, but he liked the cover so darn much, that he wrote it into the story. But there are differing views on where it is written in. It has been alleged that Fitzgerald's symbolic billboard eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg derived from the cover. An alternative recently proposed is Nick Carraway's image of Daisy as the "girl whose disembodied face floated along the dark cornices and blinding signs" of New York at night which appears at the close of chapter four.

Have you read Gatsby? What did you think of it?

If you'd like to, you can download the free ebook here.

Have a terrific weekend.
Happy reading,
Angela
 
 
 
 



9 comments:

  1. So, I have a confession. I've never read the book! ::GASP:: I know, right?!?! Looks like I need to add another classic to my summer reading list. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lol, Erin. So many books, so little time :)

      Delete
  2. OK I confess – I’ve never read it either! It’s on the ‘must read' list but somehow keeps getting put to the bottom of the list. The movie looks great – so maybe I could watch that and pretend I’ve read the book????

    ReplyDelete
  3. Good to know! I'm already seeing an uptick in requests for it at my library.
    I do love that cover - it really captures your attention.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Madigan,
      Thanks so much for stopping by. I know, I love the cover art too.

      Delete
  4. I read The Great Gatsby back in high school This movie adaptation looks like one I will certainly enjoy. I can't wait to see it. I may even reread the book!

    ~Jess

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Jess. It's great to see you. The movie does look like a terrific adaptation. My daughter just read it this year for school, so maybe I can talk her into going with me to see the film :)

      Delete
  5. The Great Gatsby was an okay book. I don't know if there was a film adaption of this book before, but I will probably enjoy any version of this story.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...