Cinema adaptations of "The Great Gatsby": A theoretical review

Abstract

It is unquestionable that there is hardly a sphere of reality which is not echoing some form of previously established image or text. Undoubtedly, the best example of this theory is that of cinema adaptations, a common practice for cineastes since the creation of cinema itself. There are many great literary classics which have been adapted to the silver screen, and F. S. Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is not an exception to this rule. Its faithful portrait of the American Dream, love and materialism in the middle of the flamboyant Jazz Age has caused critics and readers to consider it as Fitzgerald’s most popular and celebrated novel. However, its 1974 and 2013 cinematic adaptations have only been discussed shallowly in spite of the impact they have caused. Therefore, this paper offers an analysis and a comparison of the adaptations, specifically of those framing scenes that can be considered as most decisive in the book. That is, (1) the beginning of the story, (2) Jay Gatsby’s introduction, (3) Daisy and Gatsby’s reencounter, and (4) Tom and Gatsby’s confrontation. For the purpose of carrying out the present analysis in the most efficient manner, a neutral perspective will be adopted and maintained at all times all throughout the paper, bearing in mind the idea that, when adapting, cineastes may choose to either produce a remarkably literal adaptation of a novel, or rather devise a different version of the original. Nevertheless, the selection of one option over the other does not imply in any way that a faithful adaptation is better than a loose adaptation or vice versa.