As he did with Romeo and Juliet, Baz Luhrmann has made an old high school syllabus standby into the sexiest thing since...Moulin Rouge!
A new trailer for The Great Gatsby is out, and boy do those '20s appear to be roaring in the romantic thriller, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as the titular social climber, Jay Gatsby; Carey Mulligan as the married woman he wants, Daisy Buchanan; and Tobey Maguire as the story's wide-eyed conscience, Nick Carraway.
And while the latest trailer is quite the whirlwind of Luhrmannesque spectacle, including the credit sequences right out of the age of silent cinema, we were able to identify five major things to take away from the visually hypnotic two minutes and 34 seconds:
1. Shiny Happy People Have Shiny Dangerous Toys: Within the first few seconds there's a close-up on Gatsby's infamous buttercup-yellow roadster. As he speeds around New York while explaining his outlook on life to Nick, the car both represents the corrosive materialism that pops up throughout the story and looms as a dangerous presence—which comes to fruition later in the trailer as the car is plowing into...well, we won't spoil it for you if you haven't read the book. (Or seen the 1974 Great Gatsby with Robert Redford, Mia Farrow and Sam Waterston. Or the 1949 version, or the 2000 TV movie...)
2. Gatsy Knows How to Throw a Party: As does Luhrmann, and we can't help but see both the Capulets' costume bash from William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet and all of Moulin Rouge in the scenes of hedonistic abandon taking place at Gatsby's West Egg soirees.
3. A Swimming Pool Has Never Looked Less Refreshing: Gatsby's natatorium is as foreboding as that car—and for good reason. Florence + the Machine's "Bedroom Hymns" pounding in the background easily indicates that ye who enter the pool area should probably abandon hope along with that robe. "As good a place to fall as any," indeed.
4. The Heat Is On: The affair between once-and-again lovers Gatsby and Daisy was always more implied in Fitzgerald's novel, but a mere suggestion of sex on the side wouldn't do in this case, now would it? Gatsby and Daisy don't just canoodle on the grounds of their respectively massive estates, either—those silk sheets see plenty of action. Extra creepy points go to the angsty slow version of the Turtles' "Happy Together" that accompanies the, er, romantic montage.
5. Living a Lie Can Be Stressful: Considering DiCaprio is in the title role, this Gatsby isn't going to just be the suggestion of a man that Fitzgerald sketches in his book through Carraway's observations. Sure enough, those inner demons appear to manifest themselves in far more visceral ways onscreen.
In case you're at all doubting whether you can get on board with Luhrmann's vision, in theaters May 10, let Gatsby persuade you himself.
"Why, of course you can," he whispers seductively as the trailer fades to black.