【电影简介】

未成名作家尼克从中西部故乡来到纽约，在他住所旁边正是盖茨比的豪华宅第。这里每晚都在举行盛大的宴会。尼克和盖茨比相识，并对盖茨比充满探究的兴趣。探究的结果是：尼克了解到盖茨比内心深处有一段不了之情。

年轻时的盖茨比并不富有，他是一个少校军官。他爱上了一位叫黛茜的姑娘，黛茜对他也情有所钟。后来第一次世界大战爆发，盖茨比被调往欧洲。似是偶然却也是必然，黛茜因此和他分手，转而与一个出身于富豪家庭的纨绔子弟汤姆结了婚。黛茜婚后的生活并不幸福，因为汤姆另有情妇。物欲的满足并不能填补黛西精神上的空虚。盖茨比痛苦万分，他坚信是金钱让黛茜背叛了心灵的贞洁，于是立志要成为富翁。几年以后，盖茨比终于成功了。他在黛茜府邸的对面建造起了一幢大厦。盖茨比挥金如土，彻夜笙箫，一心想引起黛茜的注意，以挽回失去的爱情。

尼克为盖茨比的痴情所感动，便去拜访久不联系的远房表妹黛茜，并向她转达盖茨比的心意。黛茜在与盖茨比相会中时时有意挑逗。盖茨比昏昏然听她随意摆布，并且天真地以为那段不了情有了如愿的结局。然而真正的悲剧却在此时悄悄启幕。黛茜早已不是旧日的黛茜。黛茜不过将她俩的暖昧关系，当做一种刺激。尼克终于有所察觉，但为时已晚。一次黛茜在心绪烦乱的状态下开车，偏偏轧死了丈夫的情妇。盖茨比为保护黛茜，承担了开车责任，但黛茜已打定主意抛弃盖茨比。在汤姆的挑拨下，致使其情妇的丈夫开枪打死了盖茨比。盖茨比最终彻底成为了牺牲品。盖茨比至死都没有发现黛茜脸上嘲弄的微笑。盖茨比的悲剧在于他把一切都献给了自己编织的美丽梦想，而黛茜作为他理想的化身，却只徒有美丽的躯壳。尽管黛西早已移情别恋，尽管他清楚地听出“她的声音充满了金钱”，却仍不改初衷，固执地追求重温旧梦。人们在为盖茨比举行葬礼，黛茜和她丈夫此时却早已在欧洲旅行的路上。不了情终于有了了结。尼克目睹了人类现实的虚情寡义，深感厌恶，于是怀着一种悲剧的心情，远离喧嚣、冷漠、空洞、虚假的大都市，黯然回到故乡。

【音频文本】

After watching Baz Luhrmann's "The Great Gatsby", I was convinced once again of the greatness of the titlecharacter Jay Gatsby, the writer F. Scott Fitzgerald and the actor Leonardo DiCaprio. But one question remained: where is the part where Gatsby says, "Her voice is full of money". It is an important statement in Fitzgerald's original novel and without it the movie is only half complete. As a result, Gatsby, despite all his charisma and positive hopes, is reduced to being just a simple-minded, nice old sport.

To a certain extent, Baz Luhrmann was the best candidate to adapt the Great American novel into a movie, and he is by far the most successful. I can think of no-one else who could better recreate the kind of lavishness portrayed in the novel with regards to Gatsby's mansion and the character of Daisy Buchanan. But with brilliant colors and the anachronistic Jay-Z and Beyonce music, Luhrmann was only able to deliver the sensationalism related to the parties at the mansion; the more philosophical discourse on the American dream and disillusionment in general is carefully sidelined in Luhrmann's script. Luhrmann's only attempt at broaching this aspect is to introduce narrator Nick as a patient in a sanitarium, an interesting reference to the author's own life experience.

Like "Moulin Rouge!", "The Great Gatsby" is immensely colorful with well designed costumes and settings. But all cast members seem to have been squeezed out of the picture by the sensual aspect of the movie, withthe exception of Leonardo DiCaprio, who appears half an hour into the story but still manages to impress an anticipating audience. With a mellowed appearance and manners, the 38-year-old actor creates the air of a young, aspiring youth. This is not prescribed in the novel, but still fits Luhrmann's simplified interpretation.

Carey Mulligan could have been an authentic Daisy if the script allowed for a deeper study of her character. Australian Elizabeth Debicki is physically attractive, but she lacks the air of a proud female golf player in the 1920s and her appearance is all too fleeting. Tobey Maguire's boyish look is compatible with a fledgling banker on Wall Street, but when surrounded by Gatsby's party guests he suddenly finds too much wantonness in his big eyes. Otherwise, his portrayal as the narrator and depressed mental patient is fair enough.

To sum up, Baz Luhrmann has delivered a decent adaptation of the great American novel, with emphasis on the extravagant life of Gatsby. But unfortunately, Gatsby himself couldn't care less about it and neither does a mature reader. Hopefully the Chinese moviegoers will appreciate Luhrmann's style; after all, they seem to have had a bit of fun even with "Tiny Times".

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