Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: GATSBY IN CONNECTICUT - THE UNTOLD STORY [Sonoma International Film Festival 2021 - Virtual]

The story of F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda has become the stuff of legends but as with all myths told long ago, the perception of reality takes on a different hue. With the documentary "Gatsby In Connecticut - The Untold Story", director Robert Steven Williams puts forth the theory through many Fitzgerald scholars as well as the writer's granddaughter of the possibility that Westport in Connecticut was at least in part the basis for his F. Scott Fitzgerald's most famous novel. As it is discussed back and forth, the film itself seems like it is integrated with bolstering Westport as a historical tourism destination as well. The director himself seems like a resident. He even places himself and some of his collaborators in the discussion which includes breaking down books, diaries and other media that have perhaps not been seen before. The issue is that there is never really a true perspective from a certain person. The only thing wants to make sure of is that their research points to a summer in the early 1920s when Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda stayed in a small house in Westport. While "Gatsby" as a book is built to talk about Nick Carraway and his space on Long Island meeting Gatsby, one of many enlightening elements that the film's scholars are surprised by is that the Fitzgeralds lived in a small gray house during that summer in Westport next to a rich businessman who threw parties and even brought in celebrities and Houdini to share in his shindigs. Sounds definitely Gatsby-esque. In just one detail, Zelda was supposedly banned from coming to any more parties there after she got really drunk and possibly began exposing herself. Again myth abounds. One thing that comes through is that Sam Waterston (who is along for the ride here for the film) and played Nick Carraday in the 1974 Redford adaptation (and likely a Westport resident himself) says that Gatsby is ultimately just a piece of fiction. But it does give food for thought. It also seems that Keir Dullea of "2001" fame seems to be the voice over narrator but that is never truly made clear (since it doesn't really sound like how we remember him). Like much of Gatsby itself, there are obvious elemennts and then there are mysteries...and it just depends what angle one wants to listen to. B-

By Tim Wassberg