Good The Importance Of Theme In Visual Style Movie Review Example

In 2013 a new and updated version of The Great Gatsby was directed by Baz Luhrmann, starting Leonardo De Caprio, and designed to be a faster, and brighter version of an age old story. One of the most visually and thematically interesting scenes in the film is the “epic party scene” as it is known, at which time the audience is first introduced to not only the Gatsby character, but also his over the top lifestyle. As such, the scene is expressly interesting to dissect as it relates to the way it characterizes certain individuals and sets the scene for the films later action. We will specifically consider the scene as it relates to mise en scene, design, composition, setting and costuming, as it frames the Gatsby character and foreshadows his eventual fall.
One of the first, and most prominent features that the viewer notices about the scene is the use of modern hip-hop music playing behind the scene. It comes in stark contrast to the roaring-20’s dress, and cars, and yet fully supports the general feel of the party. The song “A Little Party Never Killed Nobody” by Fergie, Q Tip, and GoonRock uses a combination of modern hip hop with significant Jazz signatures, in terms of musicality, in order to create a unique sound. It is fast paced and seems to create a dizzying effect, that increases the rush of the party scene. This is overlaid with the organ playing of Beethoven’s “dubious” decedent, making it more raucous and chaotic.
More generally, however, the mise en scene, there are a variety of smaller factors that directly contribute to the scene’s effectiveness. The scene opens with a car careening onto the grounds, as you see flashes of bright red and yellow cars, the lights reflecting off the fountain, and the lights that are on around every post, and in every window in Gatsby’s enormous house. Nick Caraway is speaking at the time and refers to the scene as a “calidoscopic carnival,” a general image that is then reinforced by the mise en scene. A variety of features in the scene feed the image including bright colored dresses on women, carnival-like features like flame eaters, Vegas-style show girls, giant balloon arrangements, and more. This is significant in that it makes the party feel as if it is an event, as would be seen in a major Vegas casino, however, it frequently pulls back, to show the full house, in order to remind the audience that this is occurring at Gatsby’s home and not a night-spot or speakeasy.
Special care should be taken to note the significance of costuming in this scene. This scene has more extras than any other single shot in the movie, and is dominated by hundreds of characters in party attire. This includes tuxedos, and slinky dresses that are extremely, or even ironically, reflective of the 1920’s setting of the movie. The costumes are extremely detailed featuring flat straw hats , top hats, and a variety of ties and cravats on men, that allowed the costume designers, it would appear, to differentiate every single character, by providing them a unique costume that was similar to, but distinctly different than any other character in the scene. Similarly, women generally wear dark colored gowns, in classic 1920’s fashions, but accessories make them each stand out. Their costumes are differentiated through hat types, long strands of beads, flashy shoes, fur coats and a variety of other accessories. The impact that this has on the scene as a whole is to create a scene that appears even more busy, or crowded, reinforcing Caraway’s dialogue, again, as he explains that all of New York turns out for the lavish affair.
The setting is also significant, in both the development of the characters and the larger theme of the movie. Gatsby’s parties are legendary, and so it was the responsibility of the director to use this scene to develop the opulence of Gatsby’s lifestyle and the scope of the parties her threw. This is accomplished, in this scene, through setting. The party takes place across multiple settings, within the Gatsby mansion, including an expansive library, a pool with a “beach,” multiple grand stair cases, a mezzanine with the large pipe organ, ballroom, and more. Each of these backdrops is filled with opulence, of its own kind. The library, for example, has an ornate globe, books on shelves that reach up to the ceiling and a massive desk. The pool, in contrast, has floating lights, luxurious lounge chairs, and a unique and extravagant overall design. The house is clearly designed for entertaining, and demonstrates that Gatsby has spared no expense in any detail related to its creation.
When one considers the role that setting plays in creating the overall mood of the scene, and informing a characters state of mind, this scene is extremely important. The overall mood of the scene is busy, playful, and generally designed to entertain. It is larger than life, which represents Gatsby, who has become a bit of a New York Legend at this point in the scene well. However, the setting is shown, often, especially when characters are speaking of Gatsby, from strange, and distanced angles, as if to view the chaos of the party, and the massive expansion of the house from above the fray. In this way, it represents Gatsby well, for while he throws the parties, it is often noted that he has “never been seen,” because he does not generally participate in the merriment.
The over-the-top nature of the party, and the house, and the noise and movement of the scene also give the viewer a sense of insanity. While the narrator, Caraway, liken the scene to a carnival, it seems to drive on to the brink of madness, the camera angels even, occasionally, create a dizzying effect. This is also fitting of the Gatsby character who is being driven mad by his loneliness in his search to recapture lost love.
The décor and costumes also seem to reflect a certain falseness. They are over the top. The presence of major civic leaders, carousing with women who appear to be hookers, and losing money at casino games, have a falseness to them. This is not a reflection of their real life, but instead reflects a kind of escapism. It could also be said that, like costume jewelry, it is to gawdy that it must be fake. This is also reflective of the Gatsby character, who is a common man who has built himself up to riches, and who is going by an assumed name, and identity and pretending to be someone and something that he is not. He has abandoned who he is and where he has come from, and is putting on an act, just like those who attend his parties.
This concept is further reflected in the use of lighting throughout the party scene. Generally, the scene occurs in bright light. Most of the scenes are fully lit, or even overly exposed. They are flashy and have the same opulence and almost glaring nature as the décor and setting. However, when characters are talking about Gatsby, the lighting changes so that those conversations occur in shadow. The high-key lighting creates a comic effect that adds to the overall “carnival” of the party, however the low lighting, especially because it is in such stark contrast with the primary lighting theme for the scene, creates an air of mystery, specifically surrounding Gatsby. This is a reminder to the audience that he is obscured in some way, or keeping secrets from the audience.
Perhaps the darkest frames occur in the library, where, Caraway encounters an old man who states. “You won’t find him. This house and everything in it are all part of an elaborate disguise. Mr. Gatsby does not exist I can’t find anyone who knows anything real about Mr. Gatsby.” It is this idea that is replicated in the party scene as a whole. There is nothing real there, it is instead a reflection of the lie that Gatsby wants the world to see.
The setting, which includes multiple backdrops representing different elements of his elaborate home, the costumes defined by elaborate, but also fake, costume jewelry pieces, the camera angles that consistently place Gatsby just outside of the life he has created, and the party happening within it, and the lighting techniques that keep him in the shade when the rest of the party-goers are dancing in the full bright light, generate a vision of Gatsby as a lonely, removed, and entirely secretive character, who is hiding behind an “elaborate disguise.” The consistent isolation also provides a foreshadowing of his inability to meaningfully engage and escape his isolation, establishing a major theme for the film as a whole. As such, the epic party scene is used as not only a physical introduction to the Gatsby character, but more meaningfully as a way of letting the audience in on his secrets, and forewarning them of his ruin.