After a lengthy delay, Baz Luhrmann's adaptation of The Great Gatsby has finally arrived in theaters. And judging from last week's box office figures, the director behind films like Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge hasn't lost his touch.
Adapting such a venerated novel was no easy task. And the fact that he managed as well as he did has us wondering if Luhrmann might be the ideal candidate for another long-awaited adaptation that many fear will never happen. A BioShock movie has been in the offing for years now, but sadly, several directors have come and gone and the project is no closer to fruition after all this time. But we have a notion that Luhrmann might be just the director to put that project back on track. Would you kindly read our reasons why and let us know what you think in the comments section below?
The two BioShock games only showed us hints and glimpses of what life was like in Rapture before society collapsed and its residents became drug-addicted serial killers. But by all accounts, Rapture used to be the swankiest hotspot under the sea, a place where the richest and most powerful could come to indulge every whim and desire without fear of the law crashing their party. We don't know about you, but that sounds a lot like a Gatsby Party to us. Luhrmann's resume is full of movies where over-the-top, decadent parties are the norm. That includes the vast, intricately choreographed dance numbers of Moulin Rouge or the more free-form decadence of The Great Gatsby.
One of the things we'd like to see from the BioShock movie is an increased focus on life in Rapture before its collapse. It's difficult to picture a director more capable of bringing such a lavishly surreal world to life. We saw what sorts of mad hallucinations a little absinthe could bring in Moulin Rouge. What sort of bizarre party frenzy could a dose of Adam cook up?
Even beyond Rapture's party scene, Luhrmann has the keen sense of visual style that can bring such a unique world to life. In terms of graphical fidelity, the two BioShock games show their age in some respects. Particularly in the first game, the characters look like more like rubber dolls than living, breathing people. But these games continue to stand out because of their haunting art style. Rapture in its golden age was a mecca for Art Deco design - all bold architecture, colorful lighting, and endless art and sculptures devoted to worshiping man and all his accomplishments.
In the games, those Art Deco trappings are offset by endless decay. Rapture is perpetually leaking and rotting, with all of that visual splendor being eaten away by the ocean. Maniacs and monsters roam the dilapidated hallways. That bizarre combination of elements is perfect for Luhrmann's visual sensibilities.
One of the more interesting traits of Luhrmann's movies is his use of anachronistic elements. In the case of Romeo + Juliet, he updated the original play to take place in modern America but kept Shakespeare's dialogue intact. With both Moulin Rouge and The Great Gatsby, the characters danced and sang along to modern pop songs despite the movies being set in the early 20th Century. Much like square dancing to hip hop music, it's an odd combination that proves to be surprisingly effective.
Most of this is largely superficial, but it's an approach that could serve BioShock well. Rapture is a place somewhat locked in time. Though the games take place in the 1960s, much of the fashion, music, and architecture is more reminiscent of the '40s. Meanwhile, some of the technology is advanced even by today's standards. Andrew Ryan built the city in the '40s, gathered together the finest artists, scientists, and thinkers of the day, and then locked them all away far below the surface for a couple of decades. That's why the denizens of Rapture are still slow-dancing to oldies while the rest of the world rocks out to the Beatles and Elvis Presley.
Rapture is nothing if not an oversized time capsule. A director like Luhrmann could find a lot of material to mine in this concept as they explore what becomes of a city that completely shuts itself off from the rest of the world and all it has to offer. That can be as superficial as music that doesn't fit the time period, or it could be something much deeper and more psychological.
Source : ign[dot]com
No comments:
Post a Comment