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June 14, 2009:
First of all, I should've known better. The Great Gatsby is one of my favorite books, and thus should have known better than to expect its genius to transfer to film. However, I was hopeful because the cast is impressive and so is the screenwriter. Most of the actors were brilliantly cast, with high praise to Robert Redford and Sam Waterson. However, Mia Farrow was unconvincing. This was the first movie that I've seen her. I found her acting to be annoying, unessential, and just flat. Farrow didn't convey Daisy's emotions and complexity well, which for those who have read the book, is a thorough disappointment. There was one scene that Daisy was flooded with emotion. How did Mia Farrow convey that? She put her finger to her lip and squinted her eyes. Another downside to the movie was how they overdramatized the plot and some of the characters. Again for those that have read the book, F. Scott Fitzgerald had already written the book to be of something so full of drama. Why toy with that? The movie was so overdramatic in some parts that it was unconvincing, and just downright frustrating.
Gone Was My Hope That The Transfer Would Be Betterby Anonymous
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July 24, 2004:
'The Great Gatsby' (1974) is a story of decadence and decay from the 1920s, spawned from the pen of imminent author, F.Scott Fitzgerald. It?s full of wanton greed, lust, sex and murder set during the flapper age. Robert Redford is the quintessential sexy, Jay Gatsby. He?s at once a charmer and a recluse, throwing lavish parties on his Long Island estate for the ritzy jet set, though rarely attending, accept in absentee through a bird?s eye view from his second story window. But Gatsby?s unassuming secretiveness is brought into the light when he meets gawky paramour, Daisy Buchanan (Mia Farrow). She?s a godless, flighty flapper, married to a wealthy playboy, Tom (Bruce Dern), and cousin to the introspective, Nick Carraway (Sam Waterston) the young man living on the cottage near Gatsby?s estate. Nick is genuine and Gatsby, sensing that he can trust Nick, confides in him his romantic interests in Daisy. The two become lovers ? a relationship which is genuine for Gatsby but shallow, fleeting and inconsequential to Daisy. She soon returns to Tom who decides to set Gatsby up with the accidental hit and run of Myrtle Wilson (Karen Black) that he has committed. Tom and Myrtle used to be an item and Tom?s impregnation is passed off as Gatsby?s, leaving Myrtle?s distraught husband, George (Scott Wilson) with murder on his mind. Despite a screenplay by Francis Ford Coppola and stellar production values the film generally misses its mark in recanting the tale of a millionaire playboy, brooding away in his locked mansion for the woman that he lost. There's just something about Fitzgerald's writing that doesn't translate well to the big screen. The transfer is a huge, strange disappointment. Despite being anamorphically enhanced the picture elements look as though they've been fed through a meat grinder. Age related scratches and often excessive film grain crop up throughout, while some scenes are remarkably free of either distraction. The contrast levels during the dusk scenes are way too low. Colors are generally muted and during several scenes even bleed. There are digital artifacts throughout including more than a hint of edge enhancement, aliasing and shimmering of fine details. The audio is barely stereo and really weak in its spread. There are no extras.
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