The Great Gatsby!!11!Leonardo!1Toby11!!

*Contains traces of spoiler*

I love the cinema. I love getting lost in a world painted before me, the darkness making me forget about the world outside, the hour of the day. Watching, loving The Great Gatsby, getting lost in the glitz and the glam, disgusted and yet intrigued by the immorality beneath the glistening surface, I was completely lost in the story and "the whisperings and the champagne and the stars".

Last year I read The Great Gatsby because my friend told me it was a classic. From reading it within a day, I obviously agreed. I was watching the film and in my head I was naming the different parts by the chapter and, therefore the film largely kept to the book and I could not be more grateful for this. For this reason, I don't believe that the film deserves the not-quite-so-amazing film reviews. I really really loved it.

The imagery of the film, I thought, was fabulous. It was classy in East Egg, exciting in West Egg, solemn in the Valley of Ashes and tacky in Myrtle and Tom's apartment. Despite how - according to my GCSE History knowledge - the parties and social side to 1920s America being frowned upon, I feel like girls of my age love the idea and the film captured the flappy dresses and short haircuts beautifully. It was all so extravagant, just like the lovely Gatsby.

So, I'll address the point that causes my heart to pound a little: Leonardo DiCaprio and Toby Maguire. Throughout the film I just kept seeing Jack Dawson and heck, has that man aged well. He was beautiful and played the part of Gatsby incredibly: he was classy, elegant in his "beautiful shirts" and intriguing. Every time he uttered "old sport", charm oozed out of Mr. DiCaprio and I can easily say that he was perfect for the role. Toby Maguire was also too sweet-looking for my heart to take. I felt like the film focused a lot more around Nick, the narrator and his character, a like to the novel, allowed me to - and as Nick eventually does - cast negative judgements on the characters, on all but one character, of course.

Gatsby could be seen negatively with his eyes seemingly drawn only to wealth, but I have never doubted his love for Daisy, whether she deserved it or not, however, is, well... No. She does not deserve the sweet Gatsby. The wealth seeming to be a plan to win over Daisy - which, of course, it was - was triumphed, in the film, by his incredible love for her. As I was drawn to Gatsby, I felt like Gatsby's ending of believing it was Daisy who called, was perfect. He deserved to be happy.

Nick Carraway, in the novel, is made clear to reserve all judgements and Fitzgerald made this clear in a different way, I felt, to how the film did. In the film, the moral decay swaying Nick's opinions seemed more obvious through his facial expressions, however, he did, still remain, incredibly polite and above all other characters in the film.

Ultimately, I loved it.

Old & New Money,

The Girl in the Moonlight.