Viorela-Raluca Copaciu Copaciu 1

KidLit

Professor: Horea Nașcu

19th May 2018

Scientific research methodology

Viorela-Raluca Copaciu Copaciu 2

KidLit

Professor: Horea Nașcu

19th May 2018

The Great Gatsby – From the book to the movie

I chose to do my research on the novel ”The Great Gatsby” because, in my opinion,it is a literary

classic with remarkable lines and colorful descriptions which obviously had to be captured on

the big screen. There were no more than four adaptations of the book, each unique in its own

way, and each was portrayed differently on the big screen.

My goal in this paper is to help you decide which should you choose, should you read the book

or should you watch the movie. And if you choose the movie, which movie would meet your

demands the best?

To achieve this goal, I have organized my paper into two main sections, each of them having

subsections. In the first section, I provide some details about the book: when was it written, what

are the main themes of the book and some facts. In the second section, I discuss about the four

movies that were adapted from the book, giving details on how faithfully was the book portrayed

in the movie, details about the performances of the actors, the setting and the overall feeling of

each movie. I end my paper with a conclusion which I hope helps you get a better view on the

book and the movies.

Viorela-Raluca Copaciu Copaciu 3

KidLit

Professor: Horea Nașcu

19th May 2018

FACTS ABOUT THE BOOK

“The Great Gatsby” was a novel written in 1925 by Scott F. Fitzgerald. It portrays, on one hand,

the passion and obsession of the young and misterious millionaire Jay Gatsby for the beautiful

Daisy Buchanan and, on the other hand, it explores themes of decadence, idealism, the pursuit

for the American Dream, creating also a portrait of the Jazz Age. The story is narrated by Nick

Carraway, who was once Gatsby's neighbour, and tells the story some time after 1922 when the

incidents already took place.

In writing of the book, Fitzgerald was inspired by the parties he had attended while visiting Long

Island's north shore. When Fitzgerald moved with his wife Zelda to Great Neck on Long Island

he witnessed the collision between the “old money” and the “new money”, a theme which is

present in his novel. It is believed that „The Great Gatsby” was somewhat Fitzgerald's own

autobiography because sometimes he experienced Nick Carraway's life and other times he lived

as Gatsby did, two characters were one. He wasn't able to decide about the book's title and he

considered a variety of alternatives, such as: Among Ash-Heaps and Millionaires, Trimalchio,

Trimalchio in West Egg, On the Road to West Egg or The High Bouncing lover. He was close to

choosing one of the Trimalchio's title but he was persuaded by someone that the title was too

obscure. It is approximately 100 pages long and it has 9 chapters.

At the time of its publication in 1925, the novel cost just 2$ and sold poorly whereas now it is

considered to be a literary classic and was voted as the 20th century best American novel and

second best English-language novel of the same time period.

Viorela-Raluca Copaciu Copaciu 4

KidLit

Professor: Horea Nașcu

19th May 2018

Great Gatsby memorable quotes: Because we often relate to stories from our lovely books, or,

why not, we would like to relate to them I selected some quotes from the book that, for me, were

memorable, touching and true.

“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” Nick Carraway

“I hope she'll be a fool – that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.”

-Daisy Buchanan

“And I like large parties. They're so intimate. At small parties there isn't any privacy.” Jordan

Baker

“I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of

life” Nick Carraway

“In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning

over in my mind ever since. Whenever you feel like criticizing any one, he told me, just

remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had.” Nick

Carraway

“He looked at her the way all women want to be looked at by a man.” Nick Carraway

THE GREAT GATSBY MOVIES

Creating a movie based on a highly acclaimed literary work full of descriptive lines and

dialogues is a challenging task. Creating a movie that manages to keep the heart and soul of such

a literary work is really difficult to accomplish. That's why when it came to making a movie after
Viorela-Raluca Copaciu Copaciu 5

KidLit

Professor: Horea Nașcu

19th May 2018

this book was a real challenge.

The Great Gatsby (1949). The first adaptation of the novel was produced in 1949 by Richard

Maibaum and directed by Elliot Nugent. The movie isn't as accurate to the book's plot as later

adaptations. For example, it doesn't begin with Nick Carraway's narration but with Jay Gatsby's

journey to West Egg to buy a mansion. However, the action moves quickly and follows the novel

closely after the first scenes.The 1949 Great Gatsby is a morality tale but the lesson is about

crime and not about love and it focuses more on Gatsby's criminal operations.The movie is

harder to find since it's so old and it's not available on streaming services. You might be lucky

and find some clips on Youtube. It's a low budget movie and has more of a film noir feel.

Moreover, it is a simple and unpretentious movie.

The Great Gatsby (1974). 25 five years later another Great Gatsby movie was in the making. It

was directed by Jack Clayton and produced by David Merrick. It is a mostly faithful adaptation

of the movie with beautiful costumes and sets. It had a big budget, Francis Ford Coppola adapted

the screenplay and there were big name actors like Robert Redfort and Mia Farrow. We can note

that Coppola's screenplay is much more loyal to the book's plot than the 1949 version but the

movie fails to transmit the energy and passion of the novel. Most of the performances were

good, but the movie itself is low energy, and lacks a lot of the spirit and wit of the novel. The

movie was criticized for lacking any true emotion or feelings towards the Jazz Age.
Viorela-Raluca Copaciu Copaciu 6

KidLit

Professor: Horea Nașcu

19th May 2018

The Great Gatsby (2000). This Gatsby is quite faithful to the book, retaining the narration by

Nick Carraway, played by Paul Rudd, of the lives and loves of the wealthy in the Long Island

communities of West Egg and East Egg. This version doesn't relish as much in the opulence and

decadence as the 1974 Great Gatsby did. It was because of the lower budget. Nonetheless there

is still plenty of production value to be seen in the settings and the costumes, which are

remarkable. It was made for TV so the movie has much lower production values.

All in all I must say that is a good choice of a movie if you want to see a nice setting, nice

costumes and some good characterizations of Nick and Daisy.

The Great Gatsby (2013). This Great Gatsby was co-written and directed by Baz Luhrmann. I

believe that Luhrmann succeded in keeping the energy and the frenetic pace of the twenties by

speeding forward into the nights of partying. The director visually tries to give us a world

maintaining as much as possible the quality of the writer's pages. When it comes to the costumes

and the setting we can be left in awe by the larger than life modern costume parties and the

modern rap music. Luhrmann pairs this with quiet moments between the main characters and

have a result of a stylistic film that manages to feel like Fitzgerald's book and nothing like it at

all. This Gatsby movie has stunning visuals, dancing scenes, high energy and big production

values.
Viorela-Raluca Copaciu Copaciu 7

KidLit

Professor: Horea Nașcu

19th May 2018

CONCLUSION

We all know that reading a book is very different from watching a movie. On one hand, books

can explore ideas without having to witness some poorly special effects. Books don't require

electricity just a bit of light, and are more portable. Reading books is also a mental exercise.

There are no commercials and you can stop and start whenever you want. Books are not limited

to a set time frame and can go into a lot more depth a movie could. It is known the fact that

sometimes movies don't have the same ending as in the book. On the other hand, movies are

easy to watch. You don't have to use your imagination to try to picture what a scene would look

like or how a person appears. You can see that from the way the creators did it, so you can see

their vision of the story. The movie is both visual and audio based. And we know it can have

interesting music too. If you are more of an action-on-the-screen fan , if you want to have a

better understanding of the characters, to see the way the setting is displayed, to see the

glamorous costumes and the glamorous parties then the movie is what you need.

Both have their pros and cons but, in my opinion, you should do both.
Viorela-Raluca Copaciu Copaciu 8

KidLit

Professor: Horea Nașcu

19th May 2018

Works cited

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. The Bodley Head, London, 1960.

Asher, Levi. “Unhearted! The 1949 Great Gatsby film.” Literary kicks, 26th February 2012,

http://www.litkicks.com/Gatsby1949. Accessed in 16th May.

Bailey, Jason. “Why can't Hollywood get 'The Great Gatsby' right?” Flavorwire. 10th May 2013,

http://flavorwire.com/390786/great-gatsby-review-baz-luhrmann. Accessed in 14th May.

Brandstatter, Tasha. “Gatsby vs. Gatsby: Comparing the 1974 film and Baz Luhrmann’s

adaptation” Bookriot. 22th May 2013, https://bookriot.com/2013/05/22/gatsby-vs-gatsby-the-

1974-film-and-baz-luhrmanns-adaptation/. Accessed in 15th May.

Flessa, Maria-Elpida “The Great Gatsby Trivia: 20 interesting facts about the novel!” Useless

daily, April 25th 2017, ttps://www.uselessdaily.com/world/the-great-gatsby-trivia-20-interesting-

facts-about-the-novel/#.Wvr5y6SFN0w/. Accessed 16 May 2018.

Viorela-Raluca Copaciu Copaciu 9

KidLit

Professor: Horea Nașcu

19th May 2018

Handy, Bruce. “As Baz Luhrmann’s Great Gatsby Arrives, a Look Back At Its Failed 1974

Predecessor.” Vanity Fair, 26th April 2013, https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2013/04/great-

gatsby-movie-review. Accessed 15th May 2018

The Great Gatsby. Directed by Elliot Nugent, Paramount Studios, 1949.

The Great Gatsby. Directed by Jack Clayton, Paramount Pictures, 1974.

The Great Gatsby. Directed by Robert Markowitz, Granada Entertainment, 2000.

The Great Gatsby. Directed by Baz Luhrmann, Warner Bros, 2013.

“The Great Gatsby” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 24 May 2018,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Gatsby/. Accessed 15 May 2018

Zimmer, Mark. “The Great Gatsby” DigitallyObsessed. 26th February 2001,

http://www.digitallyobsessed.com/displaylegacy.php?ID=891. Accessed in 16th May.

Viorela-Raluca Copaciu Copaciu 10

KidLit

Professor: Horea Nașcu

19th May 2018