Come on you lot- who would you cast in your ideal version of Gatsby? See Lien's post below.
Where would you set it? Are there any other relevant time periods to which the themes apply? Could it be updated or does it still need to be set in 1920s east coast America?
Thoughts below.
Don't worry- only about 45 hours until our English lesson- I can't wait....!
I haven't had the answer for the ones who could cast well the new version of Gatsby yet...
ReplyDeleteBut I think this version of "The Great Gatsby" should now be set in a country which racism and sexism are still common. It is more likely to be found in Asia (I am not suggesting any particular country here) because theoretically Asian people still remain very traditional where men usually have more rights than women and they are quite more conservative and snobbish than other places etc. (I'm so sorry if I sound racist here but I am really not trying to be critical of Asian style).
Moreover, the difference between the rich and the poor could be seen very clearly in LEDCs and NICs where government doesn't often provide financial aid to low income people. (In America, I believe they definitely give lots of support to those so their life has the standard, very few people living in absolute poverty)
The corruption of government is a sensitive topic but... I think it could be illustrated in the country where there are a lot of oppositions within the apparatus of government and bribe is obvious to see but nobody dares to go against. It's all underlying so... I can't tell where is the most suitable to set the scenes for this theme!
Lastly, I personally think the consumption of goods by Asian countries rapidly and remarkably increases so it means the number of newly rich people like Gatsby proportionally increases, they tend to enjoy life and willingly pay huge amount of money on lavish things... They care more about their appearance (like Daisy) and social status. It's probably quite similar to what we could see in The Great Gatsby in 1920s.
Interesting, I definitely agree that Conspicuous Consumption is something that is on the rise here in Vietnam.....perhaps a Vietnamese version in the cinemas by 2012...."The Great Nguyen?"
ReplyDeleteOk well for the actors i would have chosen Leonardo Di Caprio but he is getting old so i would choose someone young like JAMES MARSDEN for Gatsby because he is good looking and he looks good in a suit and gatsby has to wear suits!
ReplyDeleteFor Daisy i would choose someone with natural blonde hair so it doesnt look weird like, Hayden Panettiere. Even though she is young, she is good looking (at least i think she is good looking but im not lesbian) but she could also pull off mature dresses.
For Nick this actor will have to look plain and boring like maybe Adam Brody (even though he is hot) but i will just have to make him boring in the movie.
I am thinking of shifting the time zone forward because it would be boring having a complete re-make of the original movie. Sort of like Romeo and Julliet with Di Caprio in it, they made it more modern but kept the same old english dialogue, so i would do something like that.
I would set it South Africa to show the racial beliefs in society and the sexism. It would also be good for characters like Tom and Daisy to be around black people (not being racist) to see how they would react. I would also put Buchanans house in an area with 'white people' just to re-enforce the idea of racism. Also all the cast members would have American accents including minor cast.
Just so you know i bet my movie would make BILLIONS of pounds:)
I am definitely aware of the Conspicuous Consumption in Vietnam but I'm not sure how serious it is. We should discuss in class only hihi... secret otherwise we are in trouble!
ReplyDeleteBtw, I'm not pointing out exactly what country I want the movie to be filmed in. But "The Great Nguyen" is interesting!!! We actually have the Vietnamese version of GG but I haven't read it yet... I'm very curious about how far does the translator (and vietnamese people) agree with the criticism of the themes and everything else.
hahah i would like Frodo as Nick,
ReplyDeletealso because he looks so much older so i wont think of him as a hobbit anymore
unless he gets casted as Gastby
i agree with rhianne. di caprio is getting old :( how about brad pitt? he never gets old :D
Amanda Seyfried seems a little young as Daisy
but yes she did do very well as Chloe ...ahemm...Mr Pollicutt
which is why she dosn't really suit the role or else she would be secretly in love with Jordan
Baker
what about Kiera Knightly?
Haha Uyen there is actually a korean TGG series
Making a modern version though would be very cool,buti still find it so much more exciting when u get to see a set thats set in the 1920's, i think thats what really sets it apart from other movies about love, or society thats so abundant nowadays
I guess if you were filming it today you might have to change some of the very symbolic parts to make the film more interesting, captivating the audience instead of making them fall asleep ie- Daisy and the gold kitchen utensils
and put more action into it! ie- Myrtles death would be more gruesome, her nose bleed more violent, and the party's more exciting with less shots of dancing feet.
Hahah but if it were put in asia, in the 21st century Gatsby wud be a farm boy who becomes a drug dealer, or an organ dealer...and we would have a harder time sympathizing him...
ReplyDeleteFewer dancing feet- I certainly agree with that...
ReplyDeleteThanks Annette...organ dealing Gatsby...gruesome nosebleeds...I like it.
Title? How about: "Gatby Reloaded: This time it's personal!"
Yeah Annette, Keira Knightley would be very suitable for Daisy since she's a model as well as an actress with rich experience, young and attractive. [She's been maintaining her 'top' positions in '100 Sexiest Women in the World list' since 2004 :D]. If she was chosen to cast for Daisy, I would expect a lot more effective and flirty scenes. So much better than Mia Farrow errrrr....
ReplyDeleteYeah true... I agree with you about putting more interesting and modern elements to captivate the audience since I found GG (1974)a bit out-of-date in terms of their clothing, furniture and speeches etc.
I think if people chose to make a complete modern version of GG, they would change everything to fit in the new lifestyle. :p
In fact, some people still want to those films which were set in the past 50-100 years though. Like "Pride and prejudice" and "Gone with the wind"!!! Those are very profound. But I don't think GG should be kept original since it's not as well-known as those films above. :)
But...Brad Pitt is older than Leonardo DiCaprio, and looks older :S...
ReplyDeleteI think DiCaprio would be great for Gatsby; he looks the right age, is attractive enough, and his past roles in movies have qualities that would suit the movie. All his roles in movies involve him being so sure of himself, a respected figure, but there's always some sort of weakness. (E.g. Shutter Island, Inception).
Toby Maguire as Nick is also a great choice, since he seems like a pretty balanced person. His role in Spiderman was pretty bland, (a neutral guy), but is capable of being influenced and not really know it, (E.g. Spiderman 3- the Venom costume!) He's also best friends with Leo so establishing that friendship with Gatsby would be easy.
The role of Daisy, however, seems like a bad decision to give it to Amanda Seyfried. She doesn't seem mature enough (acts and looks young-too young for Leo) and most of her past roles are innocent (Dear John, Mamma Mia). I would think the audience would cringe in their seats to watch her kiss "Gatsby". Although, she is a chameleon in acting (from Letters to Juliet to Jennifer's body), I think the better suiting actress would be Rachael McAdams.
She is also chameleon-like with her past roles (Mean Girls, The Time Traveler's Wife, Sherlock Holmes) and seems capable of playing someone seductive, alluring, yet masked. She looks/acts mature enough, as well.
I'm not sure if the time zone should be set now or.... in the 1920s, although it would be fun to look at the costumes, etc if they did choose the 2nd option. Many movies situate their time zones to past dates as well, (Sherlock Holmes, etc), so I'm fine either way.
But...I really think the setting should be in ...America. Situating the movie (with all American cast members)in...an Asian country...come on. That's sort of like that remake of Dragon Ball Z, which was...terrible.