Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby to open Cannes festival

The movie is an adaptation of F Scott Fitzgerald’s popular book of the same name.

LONDON:

Australian director Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby will open the 2013 Cannes film festival, the world’s most important cinema showcase, organisers said on Tuesday.

The adaptation of F Scott Fitzgerald’s account of Roaring Twenties America combines serious literary heritage and A-list star power, with actor Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead role.

DiCaprio will make an appearance at the festival on the famous Croisette waterfront for the first time since 2007.

The opening gala, preceded by a glitzy red carpet fashion parade and followed by parties along the palm-lined Riviera, will also be attended by Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan and US rapper Jay-Z.

“It is a great honor for all those who have worked on The Great Gatsby to open the Cannes film festival,” Luhrmann, whose first film Strictly Ballroom was screened at the festival 21 years ago, said in a statement.



“F Scott Fitzgerald wrote some of the most poignant and beautiful passages of his extraordinary novel just a short distance away at a villa outside St Raphael,” he added.

DiCaprio plays Jay Gatsby in the 3D movie, Carey Mulligan is Daisy Buchanan and Tobey Maguire is Nick Carraway, the narrator.

The festival runs from May 15 to 26 and US director Steven Spielberg is head of this year’s jury.

Last year’s winner of the coveted Palme d’Or for best picture was Austrian film-maker Michael Haneke for the drama Amour.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 14^th, 2013.

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