The line seems too easy - “The Great Gatsby not so great after all”, and I would have loved to not have to use it. This year’s opening film at Cannes, one of the most important European venues for cinema, is a film who’s subject is the very symbol of decadence and partying in literature. Director Baz Luhrmann, who would be the perfect choice for a film like this, brings a revisioned The Great Gatsby with a magnificent flare unique to the Australian director.  The novel, written by Francis Scott Fitzgerald, is given a new twist with Luhrmann’s style, known for his original cinematic visions such as Moulin Rouge!  and Australia.  Unfortunately, this movie falls short of his previous works.

Everybody knows the story of the famous Jay Gatsby, a rich person who loves to throw gorgeous parties in his wonderful house, but no one know who he was before he became the great Gatsby. Nick Carraway wrote his memories to introduce everyone to the real story of Jay Gatsby.

This movie isn’t completely awful, but there’s nothing that catches your attention throughout the movie.  It’s like a strange trip inside a wonderful and kitsch house in which Leonardo Di Caprio (the best character and performance in the cast) is the host that invites everyone to his parties. It also felt like I was rewatching most of the interesting parts of Moulin Rouge!. This is not a problem of style by a director that is always faithful with his idea of cinema, but a problem of narrative themes and plot. The same things that Luhrmann says with The Great Gatsby were told previously in Moulin Rouge!, acted by Kidman and McGregor.  However, Moulin’s presentation was better and carried directing ideas that were original in 2002. The first part of the movie has a very slow pace, with a Tobey Maguire that’s not as convincing as the rest of the cast, but who has the great power of being the main narrator.  He should know very well that from great power comes great responsibility. Macguire doesn’t seems interested in his role. Most events that are played by Maguire can be reconnected to the 2002 cult movie and using the same ideas of narration which make the movie less interesting than it really is. Themes of the story are narrated by Macguire, giving the audience all the information and making them disinterested in the movie’s story and message.

The aesthetic force of Baz Luhrmann is original as always. Extravagant parties filmed with a particular slow motion juxtaposed with a quick editing that make the mise-en-scene very pompous and magnificent. The modernized music used as a backdrop for the 1920s was also done very well. Together these two details realize a beautiful vision that shines on the screen, emphasised by the colors that Luhrmann used in a marked and personal way. Unfortunately it’s not enough to change an interesting movie into a wonderful one, and the final result of this project is something unclear and questionable. I thought that The Great Gatsby had plenty of potentials but Luhrmann makes a simple work and doesn’t use all the prospective that are in the story and in his visionary. The movie, in conclusion, achieved only half of what audiences have come to expect based on Luhrmann’s movies.