英美电影影评作品展
――电影《了不起的盖茨比》观后感
原创： 印象英美
题记：2018年上半年，我们面向爱课程《印象英美》慕课的社会学习者举办了英美电影观影写作大赛，收到了来自全国学习者的热情响应，他们之中有在校大学生、中学老师、电脑工程师，还有政府公务员。经过评选，最终产生一等奖6名。接下来，我们将陆续登出其中的一些优秀作品。虽然作品并非尽善尽美，我们希望给予大家一个展示和交流的平台。
引言：《了不起的盖茨比》的问世，奠定了弗・司各特・菲茨杰拉德在现代美国文学史上的地位，成了20年代“爵士时代”的发言人和“迷惘的一代”的代表作家之一。20世纪末，美国学术界权威在百年英语文学长河中选出一百部最优秀的小说，《了不起的盖茨比》高居第二位，并被多次搬上银幕和舞台。本文是葛泠希同学观看电影《了不起的盖茨比》的观后感，获得2018《印象英美》英文征文活动一等奖。让我们跟随她的笔触，一起来感受下90后同学眼中那个繁华却迷惘的时代。
The movie is adapted from the novel of the same name written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. He is an American writer and his novels vividly reflect the disillusionment of the “American Dream” in the 1920s. In Fitzgerald's novels, he described the mental state and social life of young Americans at that time. Furthermore, almost all of the leading characters were in their prime, and with great achievements. However, as the plot developed, they failed to achieve their dreams of success and wealth, moving toward destruction step by step and eventually losing themselves completely.
Fitzgerald's works paid more attention to the real aspect of life, the narrative of interesting stories and the modern atmosphere of American urban life. The style of his works is fluent, humorous, and well-structured. His main works are The Great Gatsby, This Side of Paradise, Tender is the Night, The Love of the Last Tycoon.And The Great Gatsby is the most famous one. It's a story about American Dream. Here is a brief introduction of the story.
The film's narrator, Nick, a Yale graduate and World War I veteran from the Midwest, took a job in New York as a salesman. He rent a small house on Long Island, next to the lavish mansion of Gatsby, who was holding parties almost every night. Nick had a cousin live in Long Island, and one day, he drove around the bay to East Egg for dinner with his cousin, Daisy, and her husband, Tom, a former football star with vast fortune and he was a college acquaintance of Nick's. They introduced Nick to Jordan, an attractive young golfer with whom Nick began a romantic relationship. She revealed to Nick that Tom has a mistress, Myrtle.
As the summer progressed, Nick eventually received an invitation to one of Gatsby's parties. Nick encountered Jordan at the party, and they meet Gatsby. Through Jordan, Nick later knew the story between Gatsby and Daisy.
Gatsby was once a poor farmer in North Dakota, but he always dreamed of becoming a great person one day. After many efforts, he became a military officer. And he fell in love with Daisy, a beautiful debutante. Daisy also loved him very much. Unfortunately, the First World War broke out, Gatsby was transferred to Europe and had to separate from Daisy. After he came back, Daisy had married with Tom. But the marriage was not happy, because of the mistress. The satisfaction of material could not fill up the spiritual emptiness of Daisy. Gatsby believed it was money that made Daisy betray her soul and the love between them. So he determined to be a rich man. Several years later, Gatsby succeeded and bought a luxury villa at the western end of Long Island, and crossed the bay was the house of Daisy. He held parties every night, just want to get Daisy's attention.
Moved by Gatsby's passion of love, Nick went to visit Daisy and conveyed Gatsby's thoughts to her. Gatsby and Daisy eventually met each other and kept an ambiguous relationship. Gatsby thought they still loved each other, but Daisy just wanted to seek a kind of stimulus. One day, Daisy drove distractedly and ran over Myrtle. In order to protect Daisy, Gatsby took the responsibility for the accident. But Daisy had determined to abandon him. Under Tom's provocation, his mistress's husband, George, shot and killed Gatsby. Gatsby eventually became a victim completely. When people held funerals for Gatsby, Daisy didn't come and even already travelled in Europe with Tom. And after witnessing the cruel reality, Nick chose to return to his hometown.
The Great Gatsby seem to be a tragic love story on the surface, but it's most commonly regarded as a pessimistic critique of the American Dream. The definition of American Dream is that anyone, regardless of their race, gender, or nationality, can be successful in America if they work hard enough. In the novel, Jay Gatsby overcomes his poor past to gain an incredible amount of money in 1920s NYC. It makes him like someone in pursuit of American Dream. And the personification of his dream is Daisy.
The American Dream presents such a pretty rosy view of American society that ignores many problems such as systemic racism, income inequality and a pretty well-developed class hierarchy. The 1920s in particular was a time with those serious problems. The country was also in an economic boom which fueled the believe that anyone can “become rich” on Wall Street. However, this rapid economic growth was built based on a bubble which popped in 1929---the great depression hit America and almost ruined the country. In the last part of the movie, everything comes crushing down: Daisy refuses to leave Tom, Myrtle is killed, her husband George breaks down and kills Gatsby and then himself. All the “strivers” are killed leaving the old money crowds safe. The tragic end alludes the fact that American Dream at that time was just a large burst bubble was bound to break.
Our narrator Nick has pointed out the false and the heartlessness existed in the society, and they are the causes of the tragedy. The movie successfully provides audience a profound impression on the illusionary American dream, with the joint efforts of background music, shot cut, the color tone and actors' super mastery of acting.
