Movie Analysis Essay on The Great Gatsby: Vibrant Color Schemes for Emotional Appeal

Introduction

The Great Gatsby is an American romantic drama movie of 1974 that is based on the 1925 novel by the same title by Scott Fitzgerald (Curnutt). Just like the novel, the film narrates the story of a writer who was also a Wall Street trader named Nick Carraway, who finds himself attached to the past and luxurious lifestyle of his neighbor, Jay Gatsby. The filmmaker has effectively used vibrant color schemes in his movie to support his emotional appeal throughout the narrative effectively. The filmmaker has effectively expressed elements of modernity by describing strange vertigo of flashbacks and foreshadowing at the same time. Modernism is generally an artistic movement that began in the early 20th century as a response to technological developments and urbanization in the wake of the industrial revolution. The text upon which the film is based was written at the peak of modernism, whose writer; Fitzgerald is remembered as the renowned American modernist.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

One of the elements of modernism in The Great Gatsby film is the aspect of narration from a single vantage point. Nick Carraway is portrayed to be viewing life from the perspective of 'a single-window,' which is his mind and individual perception. The filmmaker presents Nick as an ordinary and flawed to dismiss further the ideology that a narrator is all-knowing and all-seeing and pronounces judgment in the story (Laceb). Nick has a narrow perception of himself to be inclined to reserve all decisions. However, he later delivers a detailed assessment of Gatsby, which include his observation that there is something stunning about him like the discriminating understanding to the potentials of life.

Moreover, Nick makes judgment from the perspective of 'a single-window' based on the way he passes and expresses determination. Hence, if Nick is supposed to represent something about him, then it implies the audience is meant to acknowledge his narration with an axiomatic grain of salt with the idea that we are looking through one window. Hence, throughout the film, the viewers see things just as Nick perceives them and understand things only in his way (Jenkins). Therefore, modernism is expressed in the way the filmmaker uses an imperfect and limited narrator who determines the truth and reality of the narrative.

The filmmaker also uses the characters in the film to depict the modern world, which is characterized by wealth, social class, industry, and even organized crime. Hence, the film can be considered as a critique of modern society. The character Jay Gatsby who is the leading character is portrayed as a prosperous young man who is residing in the Gothic mansion in West Egg. Gatsby is well-known for extravagant parties that he organizes on Saturday night, although nobody knows his origin or the source of his wealth. Also, Tom Buchanan, who is Daisy's spouse, is tremendously rich and was formerly an associate of Nick's social club at Yale. Tom is mightily established from a robust background of a socially old family. However, the friendly attitude of Tom is laced with racism and sexism, which are also elements of modernism depicted in the film. Hence, the filmmaker expresses the ideology of possession of wealth by characters as an element of modernism.

Elements of Modernism

There are also elements of modernism in the film which the filmmaker has used the protagonist to portray. Gatsby is the film protagonist and the modernist hero of the filmmaker in the way he is described as a man who declines to admit to the life into which he was raised and brought up. Hence, Gatsby undertakes an implausible activity of transforming himself into something else that is different from what he was before the war. Gatsby has faith in himself and his outstanding dream, which makes him different from the rest of the people in his surroundings. Also, Gatsby is the epitome of wealth, social class, industry, and organized crime in the film hence portraying some of the themes that are considered the significant elements of modernism. Nick describes Gatsby to be endowed with a seemingly endless supply of hope, although Daisy believes him to have well-established imagination. Even though the combination of hope and vision make Gatsby determined, he is also a delusional character who is blinded by his endeavoring.

Another element of modernism that is depicted in the film is the horrors of World War I, which is one of the significant themes of modernists. The filmmaker has portrayed Nick Carraway as an embodiment of the horrors of WWI as he is a young man who is known to have fought in World War I after being educated at Yale. The horrors of WWI have created a mixed reaction hence an internal conflict within Nick, which he does not resolve to the end of the film. Nick reflects on his past life, and he is also uncertain about the fast-paced lifestyle of New York, which is fun-driven, although he also perceives the lifestyle as ridiculous and destructive; hence, the intense internal conflict. The horrors of WWI are also portrayed in Daisy, who lived in Louisville before the war, where several officers, including Gatsby, courted her (Jenkins). The horrors of the war have determined the current life that Daisy is living with Gatsby as her lover. Daisy had an affectionate affair with Gatsby earlier to the war and vowed to wait for him even though she decided to marry Tom Buchanan, who is an influential and wealthy young man.

Consequently, the filmmaker explores several themes in the film and one dominant theme, which is the discrepancy of the American dream. The filmmaker has portrayed Gatsby as an embodiment of the American dream, given his history of being raised as a poor farm boy with no forecasts to becoming rich and a massive social network joining his several festivities. However, he has realized all that within a short span despite his return from the war without any penny. Still, Gatsby is not a hero because his dream is nothing but a disguise. Also, the film portrays several failures of the American Dream, especially the discrepancy that surrounds it. For instance, Gatsby has not accomplished his fortune through straightforward toil but rather through criminal undertakings. Hence, his wealth is not made up of 'new' money but rather unclean money, which is received through fraudulence and delinquency. Also, the society which is depicted in the film is perceived as morally debauched with people living in the quest for inexpensive excitements with no apparent moral resolution to their lives.

Another element of modernity that is depicted in the film is the description of city life. The film provides an explanation of New York City from both positive and negative perspectives and also portrays the lifestyle of New York City. The filmmaker describes the gathering of people from various backgrounds by emphasizing on the night parties held by Gatsby every Saturday Night. Also, the filmmaker presents a comparison of the new changes that have happened to New York City against the past aspects of the twentieth century through the single-window perspective of Nick as the narrator. Two parts of the city are depicted hence providing a comparison of the social status and the difference in lifestyle, therefore, developing the element of modernism. The filmmaker portrays East Egg, which represents the old lifestyle of the aristocracy and is compared to West Egg, which comprises of the newly rich. The comparison also continues to the Valley of Ashe, which depicts moral and social degradation and also New York, which is immodest with the unprincipled quest for riches and pleasure.

Generally, modernism is made of a belief that conventional ways of life are no longer valid, and the ideas that traditionally had meaning, such as patriotism, religion, and financial success, are not meaningful anymore. Some of the ideas that are embraced in modernism include the aspect of poverty in cities, the horrors of WWI, racism, and injustice, together with the challenges in making a living (Curnutt). Therefore, some of the characteristics of modernism elements that can be depicted in a film include a stream of consciousness, which reveals an individual perception throughout the narration. Other features of modernism include the description of life in a city, the use of modernist characters, and even the emphasis on the American Dream that has become corrupted and unachievable for some people.

In essence, the film The Great Gatsby is an embodiment of the elements of modernism, which are significantly characterized by various techniques used by the filmmaker adapted from the model on which the film is based. Some of the aspects of modernism include the narration approach based on individual point-of-view, the use of characters as modernist heroes. The filmmaker has portrayed characters such as the protagonist Gatsby and Tom as extremely wealthy people in the society hence describing the element of wealth as a modernist feature.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the film also embodies the horrors of WWI, which are portrayed by Daisy and Nick and even by Gatsby. Gatsby experiences the horrors of WWI and even the time before the war when he was in love with Daisy while Nick is obsessed with his past to which he makes a comparison with the current society in which he looks up to Gatsby to be hopeful. Also, the filmmaker has portrayed other elements of modernism such as description of city life. The filmmaker has distinguished the life in various parts of the society such as New York, West Egg, East Egg, and even the kind of lifestyle in Ash Valley. The comparison of the different lifestyles is also an element of modernity by portraying the existence of different social classes in the society.

Works Cited

Curnutt, Kirk, ed. A historical guide to F. Scott Fitzgerald. Oxford University Press on Demand, 2004. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=K-PSLZSHsgkC&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=modernism+in+great+gasby&ots=XWRDGY-xgA&sig=m9LrD42r1o3Tl6cG8ns7T6ARkpw

Laceb, Rafik. F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby (1925): Variations on Forms and Themes. Diss. Universite Mouloud Mammeri, 2018.

Jenkins, Jerelle S. What about Us? Inclusivity, Community, and the Future of Sustainability in African-American Museums. American University, 2018.