【電影簡介】

未成名作家尼克從中西部故鄉(xiāng)來到紐約，在他住所旁邊正是蓋茨比的豪華宅第。這里每晚都在舉行盛大的宴會。尼克和蓋茨比相識，并對蓋茨比充滿探究的興趣。探究的結(jié)果是：尼克了解到蓋茨比內(nèi)心深處有一段不了之情。

年輕時的蓋茨比并不富有，他是一個少校軍官。他愛上了一位叫黛茜的姑娘，黛茜對他也情有所鐘。后來第一次世界大戰(zhàn)爆發(fā)，蓋茨比被調(diào)往歐洲。似是偶然卻也是必然，黛茜因此和他分手，轉(zhuǎn)而與一個出身于富豪家庭的紈绔子弟湯姆結(jié)了婚。黛茜婚后的生活并不幸福，因為湯姆另有情婦。物欲的滿足并不能填補黛西精神上的空虛。蓋茨比痛苦萬分，他堅信是金錢讓黛茜背叛了心靈的貞潔，于是立志要成為富翁。幾年以后，蓋茨比終于成功了。他在黛茜府邸的對面建造起了一幢大廈。蓋茨比揮金如土，徹夜笙簫，一心想引起黛茜的注意，以挽回失去的愛情。

尼克為蓋茨比的癡情所感動，便去拜訪久不聯(lián)系的遠房表妹黛茜，并向她轉(zhuǎn)達蓋茨比的心意。黛茜在與蓋茨比相會中時時有意挑逗。蓋茨比昏昏然聽她隨意擺布，并且天真地以為那段不了情有了如愿的結(jié)局。然而真正的悲劇卻在此時悄悄啟幕。黛茜早已不是舊日的黛茜。黛茜不過將她倆的暖昧關(guān)系，當做一種刺激。尼克終于有所察覺，但為時已晚。一次黛茜在心緒煩亂的狀態(tài)下開車，偏偏軋死了丈夫的情婦。蓋茨比為保護黛茜，承擔(dān)了開車責(zé)任，但黛茜已打定主意拋棄蓋茨比。在湯姆的挑撥下，致使其情婦的丈夫開槍打死了蓋茨比。蓋茨比最終徹底成為了犧牲品。蓋茨比至死都沒有發(fā)現(xiàn)黛茜臉上嘲弄的微笑。蓋茨比的悲劇在于他把一切都獻給了自己編織的美麗夢想，而黛茜作為他理想的化身，卻只徒有美麗的軀殼。盡管黛西早已移情別戀，盡管他清楚地聽出“她的聲音充滿了金錢”，卻仍不改初衷，固執(zhí)地追求重溫舊夢。人們在為蓋茨比舉行葬禮，黛茜和她丈夫此時卻早已在歐洲旅行的路上。不了情終于有了了結(jié)。尼克目睹了人類現(xiàn)實的虛情寡義，深感厭惡，于是懷著一種悲劇的心情，遠離喧囂、冷漠、空洞、虛假的大都市，黯然回到故鄉(xiāng)。

【音頻文本】

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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