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Great Gatsby, The [1974]
from Paramount Home Entertainment
starring Robert Redford, Mia Farrow, Bruce Dern, Karen Black, Scott Wilson
directed by Jack Clayton

Features:

• PAL

Editorial Review:

Perhaps no movie could capture F Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby in its entirety, but this adaptation, scripted by Francis Ford Coppola, is certainly a handsome try, putting costume design and art direction above the intricacies of character. Robert Redford is an interesting casting choice as Gatsby, the millionaire isolated in his mansion, still dreaming of the woman he lost. And Sam Waterston is perfect as the narrator, Nick, who brings the dream girl Daisy Buchanan back to Gatsby.

The problem seems to be that director Jack Clayton fell in love with the flapper dresses and the party scenes and the jazz age tunes, ending up with a Classics Illustrated version of a great book rather than a fresh, organic take on the text. While Redford grows more quietly intriguing in the film, Mia Farrow's pallid performance as Daisy leaves you wondering why Gatsby, or anyone else, should care so much about his grand passion. The effective supporting cast includes Bruce Dern as Daisy's husband, and Scott Wilson and Karen Black as the low-rent couple whose destinies cross the sun-drenched protagonists. (That's future star Patsy Kensit as Daisy's little daughter.) The film won two Oscars--not surprisingly, for costumes and musical score. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 / 5.0

• Worst film ive ever seen.
  I love the book, its well written with a great storyline.
  The film however is completely terrible. Some of the worst acting ive ever seen, ridiculous direction and any of the bits that arent straight quotes from the book (which leaves little) are written awfully.
  In all, I can't think of a film ive seen that ive hated this much.
  I seriously recommend you don't see this, this includes if you are doing it for A-Level. It really doesnt help.
  

• A Great "Gatsby"
  This stunning production with its splendid cinematography and its intelligent script by Francis Ford Coppola captures the essence of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel of the man who pursues his preposterous dream. Robert Redford is utterly convincing as the enigmatic protagonist, Gatsby, whose personality "seemed to face . . . the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on you, with an irresistible prejudice in your favor" [Fitzgerald, Chapter 3]. Young Sam Waterston portrays a believable Nick... more info

• Nowhere near as good as I was expecting
  Well, this was a film that I never got round to seeing when it first came out, and I was looking forward to seeing it for the first time. I've never read the book but have read some of Fitzgerald's other work.
  So I was disappointed as the film was very dated in my view, the use of music in particular cliched and far too obvious for today's tastes. I wasn't convinced by either Robert Redford's or Mia Farrow's performances - it seemed to me that neither had the acting depth to really carry off these... more info

• Faithful and sumptuous adaptation
  F. Scott Fitzgerald, himself, battled with self-depreciation, as he believed his literature was a failure. If you have read his work, you would find this incredulous, he was a man of great wit and value. Turning Gatsby into a film would be easy, after all the book is written in the style of flashback and has the contemporary use of the cinematic cut-showing how Fitzgerald was very avant garde by incorporating the most modern and fresh ideas in his work.
  Perhaps as the novel is short, it does not receive... more info

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