And it's here where his vision kinda went off the rails. Lush? Sure. Epic? No doubt. Impactful? Not in the slightest. If Australia proved nothing else, it showed that Luhrmann's skills don't lie in portraying large-scale action. Watching Australia all but crushed my curiosity about what his Alexander the Great movie would've been like.
But I'm ready to believe in Baz again, and the trailer for The Great Gatsby is giving me a lot of hope. It's also helped me come to a realisation about why DiCaprio and Luhrmann are so well-suited to each other.
Undeniably a great actor, DiCaprio's eternal youthfulness has undermined his on-screen authority in films like The Aviator and Shutter Island, lending these flicks a slight Bugsy Malone-esque quality. As DiCaprio ages, this is becoming less of an issue, but his films often come across - to some degree at least - as kids playing dress-up.
Looking back over Lurhmann's oeuvre, I have reached the conclusion that Luhrmann also possesses this overreaching youthfulness, but in an aesthetic sense. His films are brash, loud, emotional explosions that wear their hearts on their sleeves and desperately want you to love them.
They are the filmic equivalent of DiCaprio's acting presence - earnest and direct and endearing with a hint of immaturity that renders them difficult to take completely seriously. But ultimately winsome.
In retrospect, DiCaprio and Lurhmann's collaboration on Romeo + Juliet represents a perfect marriage of filmmaking sensibility and performance. I believe this can be recaptured in The Great Gatsby. It is, after all, a story about nostalgia and longing - two emotions both men project in spades, one in his performance, the other in his directorial style.
I may be a little bit bias though, as I was lucky enough to visit the Sydney set of The Great Gatsby while it was shooting last year, and I witnessed up close the level of artistry and expression going into the film. My impressions are reflected well in the trailer for the film, which explodes with life, colour and music.
Indeed, one specific aspect of Luhrmann's style I have always responded to is his ability to evoke the all-embracing emotional power of popular music. This was reflected in the soundtrack of Romeo + Juliet and in the body of Moulin Rouge.
It's a sensibility now front and centre in pop culture with the success of shows like Glee and the upcoming hair metal-medley musical Rock of Ages.
This zeitgeist-harnessing musical acumen shows itself in the trailer for The Great Gatsby with the surprisingly appropriate usage of No Church In The Wild, the opening track from Kanye West and Jay Z's recent album Watch The Throne, which features vocals by Frank Ocean.
The track has been used in movie trailers before, but its understated power rocks the world of 1922 New York presented in the Great Gatsby preview, and has me very excited for the film. I really hope the song is in the movie itself, and not just the trailer.
It's this aspect of The Great Gatsby - the music - I'm probably most curious about. I can't wait to see if he uses contemporaneous music from the era, or jazzes (sorry) things up with modern tracks. I hope it's a hearty mixture of both.
Part of me is tempted to view Baz Luhrmann as a Corky from Waiting for Guffman-type figure made good, but I'll never stop appreciating how he clearly puts every part of his heart and soul into every project he makes.
I'm really looking forward to The Great Gatsby, and I am confident it will signify a new era for Luhrmann. Just don't get me started on the whole 3D thing.
Did Australia put you off Baz Luhrmann? Are you amped for The Great Gatsby? Thoughts on the trailer? Comment below!
