The Great Gatsby - Nick and Jay - The Magic of New Friendships

Great Gatsby – Jay and Nick

True Friends are hard to come by.  True friends that you can trust with absolutely anything are even harder to come by. In the film The Great Gatsby directed by Baz Luhrmann, we are shown a relationship between two friends, Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby. Although their obvious differences Jay befriends Nick to gain his trust and ultimately reveals to him his love for Nick’s cousin Daisy. With the help of Mise-en-Scene we are able to experience the way Nick would feel meeting this mysterious stranger who lives next door to him and take the audience along for the ride of first meeting each other, as Corrigan and White said “In many way, we respond not only to physical settings and material surfaces and objects, but also to the sensations associated with them.” (Corrigan and White, 64.)

In the scene where Nick first meets Gatsby he is initially unaware he has met Gatsby. There is a shot of a man talking to Nick but the use of a prop, in this case a serving tray, shields the audience from seeing the face of the stranger. The reflective material of the prop acts as a mirror as though Luhrmann wants us to see ourselves in Gatsby. This symbolic feature is effective in helping the audience gain Gatsby’s trust. The camera also directs us to a piece of costume that will help identify us with Mr Jay Gatsby because as opposed to following the characters face we follow his ring and therefore his hand up the stairs. This creates an essence of mystery around Gatsby which through this simple technique both the audience and Nick are able to feel.

This leads to banter between Nick and the unrevealed Gatsby which leads him to turn to Jay on the Balcony and finally reveal to Nick that He is in fact Gatsby. The shot is a medium close up where the setting behind him which is that of a grand party filled with upper class aristocrats creating a colourful, fun backdrop. This makes the newly introduced Gatsby to seem magical and intriguing. As Leonardo DiCaprio, who plays Gatsby, raises his glass he smiles invitingly, this bit of acting creates a welcoming presence that surrounds Gatsby which gives the viewer and Nick reason to trust this new stranger even though they have just met. And to add the icing to the cake and spectacle of fireworks then surrounds Gatsby. This wonderful use of setting symbolises that the new friendship will be like that of fireworks, bright, sparked but all too soon it will be over, so you have to enjoy it while it lasts.

This display of Mise-en-Scene is an effective way to give the audience a scene of joy in the meeting of these two new friends. It also helps sets up the intrigue into the story that will follow their friendship because even from the twos meeting there is a sense of mystery and excitement which is effective backed up by features such as costume, setting and acting. This creates an overall performance that will be highly enjoyed by many viewers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBdoyPY1ELo

Corrigan, Timothy and White, Patricia. The Film Experience: An Introduction. Third Edition. 2012. Boston, New York. Bedford/St. Martin’s. Textbook.

The Great Gatsby. Dir. Baz Luhrmann. Village Roadshow Pictures. 2013. Film.