Baz Luhrmann is a brave man in choosing to adapt one of the Great American Novels to the screen. We already knew he was, ever since he set his 1996 ‘Romeo + Juliet’ in a 1990s United States instead of a medieval Verona. Luhrmann’s version of ‘The Great Gatsby’ stays true to its 1920s New York setting, as the Fitzgerald original is a tale applicable to all times and ages. Fitzgerald succeeded in grasping the essence of the human condition, still relevant today.

Set in the Summer of 1922, young aspiring writer Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) moves to New York to be part of the new city rising higher and higher witch each new skyscraper. Doubting his skills as a writer, he decides to be part of the financial core of the city and starts selling bonds. Nick then buys a house in the new-money quarter of West Egg, next to the sea and the grand mansion of a certain Gatsby. Nick’s cousin Daisy (Carey Mulligan), a socialite married to old-money polo champion Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton), lives right across from Nick over the water which seperates the establishment and the young self-made men. Gatsby belongs to the latter and although he might as well be a bootlegger, he shares his wealth with friends, acquaintances and strangers. Each weekend, hundreds of them visit his mansion to dabble in alcohol, drugs and dance. And although this is the bootlegger-heyday, the parties never run out of champagne, whiskey or gin. When Nick visits one of these events for the first time (as the only one with an invitation), he is amazed by the masses and décor which is beautifully captured in Luhrmann’s over-the-top visual grandeur. Thirty minutes into the film, we see Gatsby for the first time, after having heard all sorts of rumours surrounding him. The role of the mysterious Jay Gatsby is played by a Leonardo DiCaprio at his best, strongly contrasting a pale Carey Mulligan.

Luhrmann’s 3D universe perfectly captures the hedonism of these 1920s parties with flapper girls, illegal booze and dignitaries all in the same room. This visual wealth often reduces the protagonists to superficial characters with little room for nuance. Gatsby made his fortune through illegal activities, making it perverted version of the All-American motif of rags to riches, whereas Tom and Daisy are presented as careless people smashing things and persons up to eventually retreat back into their (old) money when they are done with it.

Fitzgerald has written a story with contemporary relevance – the wish to be rich and powerful, social inequality, loneliness – and Luhrmann never loses sight of this. The much discussed hip hop infused soundtrack with 1920s remixes fits the scenes perfectly, from a Beyoncé and André 3000 ‘Back to Black’ cover of Amy Winehouse to the prophetic lyrics of Lana Del Rey’s ‘Young and Beautiful’.

The film has a runtime of nearly two hours and a half, which is about twenty minutes too long, because of the artificially expanded role of Nick Carraway acting as a voice-over to tell the story. Unfortunately, Tobey Maguire is not strong enough to carry this role, as expected. Nevertheless, ‘The Great Gatsby’ is a superb visual experience and a well-made attempt at adapting Fitzgerald’s masterpiece to the screen.