The Great Gatsby Historical Film Review

The Great Gatsby Directed by Baz Luhrmann represents the 1920s or the roaring

twenties through the lifestyle, culture and attitudes of the wealthy. The Great Gatsby

portrayed the attitudes of the 1920s through the wealthy, which included the people of

Old Money (East Egg), New Money (West Egg) and the poor (Valley of Ashes). This ties

back to the 1920s period, as people either inherited their wealth, became wealthy or

were poor. In the movie, East Egg represented the people like Tom and Daisy

Buchanan, who had inherited their wealth, West Egg people like Jay Gatsby and Nick

Caraway, had new wealth. As for the poor, they were represented by the people living in

the Valley of Ashes.

The Great Gatsby depicts culture of the 1920s with parties thrown by Gatsby,

music, smoking, and drinking. Like the 1920s, people were out smoking, drinking

partying and listened to music, which was mainly jazz. Women in the 1920s became to

wear shorter skirts and had short hair like Daisy Buchanan or Jordan Baker. As for

language and slang, Jay Gatsby referred to many people, mainly Nick Carraway as old

sport. This slang was a friendly term of endearment used between equals, like a buddy

or friend. As for the role of men and women, women were still looked down upon but

began some began to party, smoke and drink, just like the flappers of the 1920s. Men

on the other hand either worked for money, like Nick Carraway or inherited money like

Tom and Daisy Buchanan.

The Great Gatsby depicts two possible themes, including the collapse of the

American Dream, as well as the shallowness of the wealthy. In The Great Gatsby, Jay

Gatsby represents the American Dream. Everything from the parties, music to the greed
all are portrayed and relate back to the 1920s. Jay Gatsby throws parties for the public

in hopes that Daisy will show up to his house. But when Gatsby is murdered, no one

shows up to his funeral except for Nick. This shows the shallowness of the people in the

1920s as they never cared or respected Gatsby. The decline of the American Dream

began when Gatsby realized that he was incapable of re-creating his past time with

Daisy. After that realization, George Wilson, murders Gatsby after Tom tells him that

Jay was the one who ran over his wife, Myrtle. Nick Carraway, as the narrator is correct

on his final judgement of Tom and Daisy Buchanan. Nick knew that they were selfish,

materialist, and shallow, and he was right. This was proven when Nick had called

Daisy’s home to notify her that Gatsby is dead, and she may want to attend his funeral;

in which she does not. Instead she leaves with Tom.

The Great Gatsby has helped me understand this time period in history, as I

learned how the people acted and their cultures and attitude. Overall, I really enjoyed

the film, because I really liked the way the director portrayed the 1920s into a slightly

more modern way, while keeping the whole idea of portraying the 1920s period. I also

enjoyed the whole story line as well as the story of Gatsby’s life. Overall, The Great

Gatsby was a great movie that depicted the period of the roaring twenties.