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At long last, we get our first real look at Baz Luhrmann’s big screen interpretation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic tale, The Great Gatsby, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, and Tobey Maguire.

 

L Luhrmann is no stranger to making antiquated classics into lush, epic, contemporary feasts for the senses. He’s best known for Romeo + Juliet, which brought Shakespeare’s romantic tale in a modern setting yet preserved the original language; and his over-the-top musical spectacular Moulin Rouge!, which paired turn-of-the-century Paris debauchery with modern-day music. The Great Gatsby is not a musical, but that hasn’t stopped Luhrmann from putting a contemporary spin on an old yarn once more.

 

And for that alone, I am seriously feeling this trailer. I am a sucker for setting period pieces to modern music. It not only helps in making the material more relatable to today’s audiences, but there is something about that anachronistic juxtaposition that is thoroughly fascinating. Even without the music, it feels like Luhrmann manages to stay true to the time period but give it that little extra 21st century flavor to really kick up the intensity meter.

 

The soundtrack for the trailer includes none other than Kanye West and Jay-Z’s “No Church In The Wild” – not exactly the first thing you think of when you imagine the Roaring ‘20s, but somehow it works. Then the cool factor is amped up even more when the music transitions to a Jack White cover of U2’s “Love Is Blindness”. It successfully sets the tone of the film and lets you know you’re in for yet another of Luhrmann’s signature sensory experiences.

 

Check out the trailer below!

 

 

 

The Great Gatsby opens Christmas Day.

 

 

- Katie Marzullo, YH Staff Editor

katie@younghollywood.com