The Great Gatsby (2013) / The Great Gatsby (1974)

Baz Luhrmann's take on F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby was a welcome treat for fans of the classic book. The 2013 entry starred Leonardo DiCaprio as the enigmatic Jay Gatsby, Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan, and Tobey Maguire as the narrator. What it did so beautifully, though, was represent the characters according to Fitzgerald's imagination of them in the book. Where the 1974 film featured Robert Redford as a more muted version of Gatsby, DiCaprio enriched the role with a tortured, yet decisive take on the character. Similarly, Mia Farrow portrayed Daisy as shrill and insufferable, while Carey Mulligan depicted her as textured but shallow because of her self-interest. In addition, Luhrmann's portrayal of excess in the latter film elegantly depicts American classism and materialism as in the original book, while the former iteration capitalizes on a verbatim adaptation that leaves the symbolism of the text lost in translation. For these reasons, the 2013 remake is superior.