Narrated by the Fitzgerald-esque Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire), the story concerns the mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby (DiCaprio) and his efforts to re-ignite the spark with his now-married ex-girlfriend Daisy Buchanan (Carey Mulligan).
“The Great Gatsby" that I remember reading when I was 15 years old in junior high school was far different from the ‘Gatsby’ I read as an adult,” says DiCaprio, 38. “What I remember from my years in junior high was this hopeless romantic who was solely in love with this one woman and created this great amount of wealth to be able to respectfully hold her hand.
“But then when I re-read it as an adult, it was incredibly fascinating (how it seemed to change.) It is one of those novels that is talked about a hundred years later for a reason. It’s nuanced, it’s existential and here at the center of (the book) is this man that is incredibly hollow, and is searching for some sort of meaning in his life.
“He’s attached himself to this relic known as Daisy. She’s a mirage. I was struck by the sadness in him for the first time, and I looked at him really differently.”
As depicted in the $120 million film, the 1920s are a time of loosening morals, bootleg czars, endless parties and sky-rocketing stocks. In the middle of it all is Gatsby, a self-made man who is, in some sense, the manifestation of the American Dream.
“One really telling sequence that we talked about a lot and, for me, was really important is the one where, after (Gatsby builds) this great castle to lure Daisy in, he’s still staring out at the green light (across the bay). He’s finally got her in his arms, but he’s still searching for this thing that he thinks is going to complete him. That was the Gatsby that I was incredibly excited about playing as an actor.”
“The Great Gatsby” has been filmed four times before, most memorably in 1974 with Robert Redford and Mia Farrow in the roles of Jay and Daisy. Luhrmann’s version, which will open the Cannes Film Festival, is a big departure from previous adaptations thanks to the lavishness of the film, the use of 3-D and the contemporary score performed by rapper — and exec producer — Jay-Z as well as Bryan Ferry, Jack White, Beyonce and Florence + The Machine.
Another element that makes Luhrmann’s “Gatsby” distinctive: it was filmed almost entirely in the director’s native Australia. Oddly enough, the outside of Gatsby’s grand mansion —“a Disneyland for adults,” says the filmmaker — was filmed at Luhrmann’s old high school. (In the book, the palace is located in Long Island).
“What was interesting was that our original intent was to shoot in New York and for budgetary reasons we shipped the whole production to Australia,” says DiCaprio, who’ll next be seen in “Wolf of Wall Street,” which marks his fifth collaboration with Martin Scorsese.
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