During promotion of his 2013 film The Great Gatsby, director Baz Luhrmann described his work as a “great, tragic love story with action, passion, [and] drama.”

And F. Scott Fitzgerald rolled over in his grave. In my opinion, Fitzgerald’s literary exploration of class, consumerism, and organized crime is too complex to be watered down into its romantic plot. As we’ve delved further into the novel, I’ve become more convinced that Gatsby should be read as a gangster novel, and that Jay Gatsby should be interpreted as a gangster character, not a loverboy. For Gatsby to be remembered chiefly as a love story is depressing to me, and I think Luhrmann’s film has popularized this interpretation.

There are some aspects of the film, though, that remind the audience of the novel’s gangster roots. A favorite of mine was the intermittent flash of Jay Gatsby’s pinky ring during the exposition, a motif also present in popular gangster films like Little Caesar and The Godfather. That, and the humorous exchange between Gatsby and the Police Commissioner when they partied the day away at a speakeasy. In Luhrmann’s adaptation, there is no doubt in the audience’s mind that Jay Gatsby is up to some sketchy business.

Despite all this, I must agree with Luhrmann’s categorization of his own film adaptation as a love story. While the movie definitely plays up Gatsby’s relationship to the mob, overall, its tone is more romantic. Gatsby’s identity as a gangster (and everything that implies about his character) is ultimately overshadowed by the plot of his and Daisy’s romantic relationship. When reading Gatsby as a gangster, the novel’s subtlety and mystery is where it shines. The film is convincing, but the novel is compelling.

At least he didn’t try to give it a happy ending. Thanks for that, Baz.

Helena