If you never read the classic F. Scott Fitzgerald novel The Great Gatsby， now is your chance to catch up—by watching the latest film adaptation. Because if theres one sentence to sum up the film， it would be， as a News says in its review， “Its just like the book.”

Director Baz Luhrmanns main challenge was “either to find a visual equivalent for Fitzgeralds elegant prose—the open secret of the books staying power—or to bend the material to his own exotic strengths，” a magazine review says. He tries it both ways， with varying degrees of success.

Luhrmanns adaptation captures the luxurious lifestyle of certain New York socialites during the 1920s. The sets， costumes， music and overly stylized tone reflect the exorbitance of these vapid characters. He also tricks the audience into accepting this hollow lifestyle of gossip， booze and materialism， just like his narrator Nick Carraway （Tobey Maguire）.

Carraway moves to New York for the summer to visit his cousin Daisy （Carey Mulligan）. His next-door neighbor is the mysterious Jay Gatsby （Leonardo DiCaprio）， who throws the most extravagant parties every weekend. The rumor mill spins and nobody knows who Gatsby really is.

Carraway becomes friends with Gatsby and gets swept up into his unrealistic lifestyle， when Gatsby asks him to reintroduce him to his ex-girlfriend Daisy， who is already married.

“All of Fitzgeralds original creation finds its way into this film， even going as far to include quite a bit of the original dialogue，” US film critic Justin Taroli writes in his review. “At times， the script is even too faithful to the book， in that little is left to interpretation，” Taroli adds.

DiCaprio does a good job as the mysterious socialite by re-creating Fitzgeralds description of Gatsbys charm. “He can look at someone for an instant and understand how， ideally， he or she wants to be seen，” David Denby， film critic for a magazing， says in his review.

Mulligan， delightful as always， adds depth to the flamboyant Daisy. “Mulligan makes it clear how much Daisy is a shaky projection of male fantasy，” Denby says.

The use of music is almost reasonable enough to see the film. “Luhrmann is at his best blending visual and musical styles together to create something wholly original，” a News review said.

For example， in one of the most outstanding scenes in the film， the first party scene， Carraway bounces from party guest to party guest trying to decipher all the gossip about Gatsby until he is finally introduced to the man himself， while the most sensationalized version of Rhapsody in Blue （composed by American musician George Gershwin in 1924） ever to grace cinema screens plays in the background.

Its pure Luhrmann and pure The Great Gatsby.

如果你還沒讀過弗·司各特·菲茨杰拉德的經(jīng)典小說《了不起的蓋茨比》，那么最近的同名改編電影讓你有機(jī)會來彌補一下了。因為如果要用一句話來總結(jié)這部影片，那就是某新聞頻道的那句影評：“簡直和原著一樣?！?/p>

某雜志評論道，導(dǎo)演巴茲·魯曼面臨的主要挑戰(zhàn)是“既要在視覺上重現(xiàn)菲茨杰拉德小說中的精美文筆——眾多周知，這是這本書影響力經(jīng)久不衰的秘密——又要令原著融于他個人的重溫詮釋之中”。這兩方面他都做了嘗試，并取得了不同程度的成功。

魯曼的改編抓住了20世紀(jì)20年代紐約一些社會名流紙醉金迷的生活方式。布景、服裝、音樂以及刻意的語調(diào)，都看得出魯曼在這些沉悶的角色身上過于用力。他想方設(shè)法令觀眾接受這種充滿流言蜚語、醉生夢死且唯利是圖的空虛生活方式，就如同片中敘述者尼克·卡羅維（托比·馬奎爾飾演）那樣。

某個夏天，卡羅維搬到紐約拜訪他的堂妹黛西（凱瑞·穆里根飾演）。他的鄰居就是神秘的蓋茨比（萊昂納多·迪卡普里奧飾演），蓋茨比每個周末都要舉辦極為奢華的派對。一時間謠言四起，沒人知道蓋茨比的真實身份。

卡羅維同蓋茨比成了朋友，當(dāng)蓋茨比要求他向已為人婦的前女友黛西重新介紹自己時，卡羅維也卷入蓋茨比那種不切實際的生活方式中去了。

“菲茨杰拉德的原著魅力全部都融入了這部電影中，甚至盡可能多地照搬原著對白?！泵绹霸u家賈斯汀·泰利評論道?！坝袝r，這個劇本甚至太過忠于原著了，幾乎沒有什么詮釋。”泰利補充道。

迪卡普里奧表現(xiàn)不俗，由他飾演的神秘富豪再現(xiàn)了菲茨杰拉德筆下蓋茨比的獨特魅力。影評家大衛(wèi)·丹比在某雜志中評論道：“他能夠在一眼之間看出一個人希望被他人看到的理想自我。”

穆里根一如既往的令人感到欣喜，她的表演為奢華派十足的黛西增添了一些深度。丹比說：“穆里根的表演清楚揭示了黛西只不過是男性幻想的一個脆弱投影罷了?！?/p>

片中對于音樂的運用也足夠吸引人觀賞此片了。某新聞頻道評論說：“魯曼擅長將視覺效果與音樂風(fēng)格統(tǒng)一起來，創(chuàng)造出令人耳目一新的作品?！?/p>

例如，作為全片最為出色的鏡頭之一，在第一幕派對場景中，卡羅維一直穿梭于派對賓客之中，試圖解讀所有關(guān)于蓋茨比的流言蜚語，直到最后他被引薦給蓋茨比本人，而與此同時在極盡煽情的背景音樂《藍(lán)色狂想曲》（由美國音樂家喬治·格什溫于1924年創(chuàng)作）的襯托下，這一銀幕場景便被渲染得光彩十足。

這是純粹的魯曼出品，也是純粹的《了不起的蓋茨比》。