Review: The Great Gatsby

Five movies in 21 years is not a lot. It’s even worse if this describes the workload of your favourite director. I saw my first Baz-Luhrmann-movie around 1995. It was a small dance movie with amazing music and great acting. But what fascinated me most was the way that the story was told – the director used dream sequences and crazy colours and it was just so over the top that I immediately fell in love with it. This first movie was ‘Strictly Ballroom’ and from then on I was in awe with everything Baz Luhrmann directed. As every girl back in 1996 I was in love with Leonardo DiCaprio in ‘Romeo+Juliet’ and got my heart-broken when watching ‘Moulin Rouge’.  I even managed to watch revisal of his interpretation of Britten’s Opera ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’  while living in Sydney (though I will never grow to like Britten’s music). The only problem is that Mr. Luhrmann puts quality over quantity and while this is important, 5 movies in 21 years is in my opinion way too little!

His latest work is the adaptation of the Scott Fitzgerald’s classic ‘The Great Gatsby’. The film was 5 years in the making and there was a lot of discussion in the press over who would get which role. There was only one that was a lockdown from the get go: The lead is played by Leonardo DiCaprio and boy does he look handsome in this movie! It could be 1996 again and quite possibly will make women all over the world fall in love with Leo all over again. But he isn’t only a pretty face – he is mesmerizing in his portrayal of the love crazy Gatsby who only wants to impress the girl of his dreams. Carey Mulligan plays the female lead of Daisy Buchanan while Joel Edgerton plays her husband Tom Buchanan and Isla Fisher is Myrtle – Tom’s mistress. My biggest surprise was the cast of Toby Maguire as Nick Carraway the narrator of the story. I was hoping to be positively surprised by him as I was when I watched the first Spiderman but unfortunately I have to say I wasn’t. He did a fine job but compared against the rest of the cast he was a let down.

But this movie is so much more than its actors – the lead of the movie is its visual effects. I can’t describe it any better than a 3D movie that doesn’t need special glasses to abduct the viewer into a brave new world. Baz Luhrmanns movies have always been known for their visual artistry but he really tops everything with Gatsby’s lavish party’s and his over the top lifestyle. Some critics thought it was over the top and too much but considering what we are reading about our so-called high society and what kind of parties the Puff Daddies of this world are throwing then I really don’t find anything over the top that tries to depict the shallowness of this society.

It is a grand movie perfect for a grand story and even though it might take place in the 20’s it is as relevant today as it was back then. And Baz Lurhmann has once again created movie magic.

 

Review: Shame

“Shame” has probably been the most talked about movie since it’s premiered at the Venice Film Festival this year. It was partially due to its explicit content (full front nudity by both lead actors) but possibly also to the underlying story which I won’t get into here in full detail.  But “Shame” really is a portrayal of a broken man who has to decide how he wants to lead his life. At Venice the lead Michael Fassbender won the award for best actor and rightfully so – he is simply amazing! Fearless in his portrait as sex addictive Brandon who has to face his life choices once his sister moves in with him. She is played by Carey Mulligan – equally up and coming like Michael Fassbender.

The story revolves around Brandon’s sex addiction and how it dictates his life – porn at the work and home computer, masturbating in local restrooms, casual encounters and prostitutes – it is actually a portrait of a broken man. Brandon is unable to show emotions towards other people other than his sister where he mainly shows anger. Even if he meets a nice girl and tries to change things he simply is not capable of doing so.

But it really just shows a broken man – without going too much into how he got to where we meet him. It simply shows what an addiction (and it really could be any addiction) can do to a person. Fassbender shows an impressive range of charm, anger, hate, love, fear….pretty much any feeling one can have, he shows in this movie! But equally good is Carey Mulligan as his sister Sissy. A singer who moves from town to town but really looks to her brother for help and guidance. The two share a bond that might or might not go beyond but it is up to the viewer to make up their own minds. Nevertheless they play extremely well with each other.

The movie got quite a controversy because of its racy scenes but I didn’t really find the scenes raunchy. Yes you see both leads naked – big deal – nothing you haven’t seen before. But judging by the nervous laughs I heard in the cinema in NYC I assume that US viewers might be a bit more well unused to such views? I still don’t understand why a movie showing some hints at sex and a little bit more skin gets a harsher rating than movies like “Saw” or “Hostel” where people get cut up but this might be a longer decision.

I really hope people don’t get discouraged by the NC-17 rating because it really is a masterpiece in acting and story-telling! The two leads hopefully get rewards for their fearless work and so deserves the director Steven McQueen for a wonderful film. Let’s hope the Academy gets over that little bit of skin and acknowledges great acting when it sees it!

Topnews: Shame receives NC-17 ratings

One of this years most talked about but also most critically accllaimed movies “Shame” by Steve McQueen (not the actor!) starring Michael Fassbender finally received it’s MPAA rating: NC-17.

Anybody who has seen the movie (or in my case just read loads about it) doesn’t find this surprising at all. After all it contains a whole lot of sex and full frontal nudity by both its stars Carey Mulligan and Fassbender. When Fox Searchlight bought the movie earlier this year for distribution they promised to not cut anything in order to please the folks at MPAA but stick to the finished movie that won Fassbender a best actor award at this years Venice Film Festivals.

What surprised me was the uproar it caused around the web in various movie blogs. It is a movie about a sex addict with various explicit sex scenes – ok so the average age of teenagers having sex dropped in recent years but I get how they should be still protected to some extend. But when digging a bit deeper I was surprised to find that other movies I would have thought to receive the highest MPAA ratings as well did not. apparently it is ok for teenagers to watch a movie like “Hostel” or “Saw” (both received only Rated R) but NOT to see 2 people doing the most natural thing in the world? For me a clear case of double standards.

Movie-critics fear that the rating will lead to fewer cinemas showing the film (which will happen) and fewer people being able to watch it. But as someone puts it quite rightly: It is an adult movie made by adults for adults – no kid should watch it! Not that a strong rating is an indicator of chances if the quality is good: One of the best films ever “Midnight cowboy” received an even harsher rating (X) and still managed to win tremendous amount of awards. I would rather see gore movies like “Hostel”, “Saw” and all its siblings receive harsher ratings then they currently do.

So let’s see if all this MPAA-Rating talk will influence academy voters. I am just looking forward watching a seemingly very good movie with some of the best actors currently around!

 

Trailerwatch: Shame

Finally we have the first trailer for one of the most talked about movies this award season: Steve McQueens “Shame”.

Michael Fassbender is playing a sex addict whose life slowly falls apart. It already won a Michael Fassbender a best actor award at this years Venice Film Festival. It will get a limited “Oscar-Release” with limited showings in LA and NYC in December  in order to be eligible for the Academy Awards. It is still unclear what kind of rating it will receive but since McQueen is refusing to cut anything it will most probably will be a NC-17.

Trailerwatch: Drive (Red Band)

And another Trailer for the upcoming movie “Drive” which I am so excited about. The buzz is really building up – critics calling it the best movie of the year and Nicolas Winding Refn already winning the the best director trophy at this years Cannes.

Drive will hit theaters in UK on the 23rd september while Germany once again has to wait….until December 29th.