A film that I consider “wild” is “The Great Gatsby” made in 2013, directed by Baz Luhrmann, which tackles the famous novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald. In the movie, Leonardo DiCaprio stars in the leading role of Jay Gatsby, the millionaire who throws extremely extravagant parties in the hopes of getting the attention of his one-true-love, Daisy Buchanan, played by Carey Mulligan, who married into old money. In the movie, the cousin of Daisy, Nick Carraway, played by Tobey Maguire, arrives in New York and moves in next door to Gatsby. He experiences the lavish parties and opulence of wealth displayed by his new neighbor in a series of what many would consider to be “wild” events. This movie portrays the newly wild experiences of those participating in the roaring twenties during the prohibition, which is depicted to have backfired on the intended audience, who, instead of staying away from alcohol, engage in the extremely wild parties thrown by Gatsby.
One scene in particular that I found particularly “wild” is the first scene depicting one of Jay Gatsby’s parties, in which Nick Carraway describes the party-goers as a “kaleidoscopic carnival” that are “spilling through Gatsby’s door” to experience the crazy party, which includes wild decorations, circ du soleil performers, a plethora of booze, hosting all of the different walks of life to be found in New York City. It is presented as a party scene that has never been seen before by an outsider, and it is clear that Nick Carraway considers it to be as wild as it can get. The craziest part is that Gatsby supposedly throws these parties almost every weekend, making the film all the more wild with all of the events that take place throughout it.
Anna Ranslem