This may seem like a minor point but it’s one that I find extremely revealing. A number of reviews describe the style of Baz Luhrmann as melodramatic. Having seen Australia, I can sort of understand where it comes from. I would think of Moulin Rouge as satirical maybe, or farcical. There are some moments in The Great Gatsby that I can concede are indeed melodramatic, to a deliberate effect. The long scenes with Gatsby and Daisy specifically are done in this way, but that’s for a thematic purpose: to show that they’re inauthentic moments and shallow emotions. The movie is bursting with inauthenticity. Because it’s about a guy who’s a total phony. Surely that’s artistically justifiable.
That scene, though. It’s easy to see why it stands apart from the rest of the movie. It’s a deliberate departure from the notes that Luhrmann strikes for the entire span of film that precedes it. The reason it is so shocking is that it is one of the few moments where we see these characters express anything remotely true. They’re exposed for brief seconds at a time before receding back into their designated characters. The fact that the scene extends for quite a long time, in stark defiance toward anyone claiming Baz Luhrmann can do nothing but be an ADD filmmaker, stretches out the tension, to the point where it’s nearly unbearable. It reminded me of the opening scene to Inglourious Basterds. The point is, to describe this segment of the movie as melodramatic is a sign of someone who seems to have stopped paying attention some time after the party scenes. This is as real as period movies get.
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