The Great Gatsby: Book vs. Movie

Nick writes the story from a sanatorium

Baz Luhrmann's movie retells Fitzgerald's novel, rather than continuing the 1974 movie. Its biggest addition is the setting from which Nick Carraway tells the story. He is a patient in a sanatorium, where a doctor encourages him to write about Gatsby.

The novel already presents Nick as someone writing about what happened. It does not put him in a sanatorium or give him a doctor to talk to. Luhrmann wanted to show Nick working through his memories, rather than relying entirely on a voice speaking over the action.

Luhrmann said the setting came from Fitzgerald's notes for The Last Tycoon, his unfinished final novel. It was an idea Fitzgerald had considered for that book's narrator.

The modern music was a response to the book's jazz

The movie keeps the story in the 1920s but mixes period music with hip-hop and other modern songs. Jay-Z collaborated with Luhrmann on the soundtrack.

Luhrmann told NPR that Fitzgerald used the popular music of his own time. He wanted the movie's music to feel equally immediate, so he combined traditional jazz with contemporary Black American music. The choice changes what the audience hears without moving Gatsby's parties into a later era.