The Great Gatsby movie, based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's famous novel The Great Gatsby, is directed by Baz Luhrmann and released on May 10, 2013. The movie is not only about the romantic drama between the protagonist Jay Gatsby and antagonist Daisy Buchanan, but it is also about the American dream contrasted with the hollowness of the upper class through Gatsby's life story. The poster of the movie profoundly illustrates the themes of the movie through colors, clothing, and text.

From the color of the poster, the audience can partially comprehend the theme of the movie. The color of black is usually associated with the dimness and pessimism in life. When mention of black, people often relate to corruption or something bad due to its negative energy. With the black hue on the background, the poster suggests to the audience that the movie may have a negative content. In contrast to the black background, the gold linings lighten the poster. Historically, gold is known as a currency and is used to assemble the power of leaders or upper-class society. It is one of the most valuable metals from the past until the present. Therefore, the usage of the linings gives the sense of brightness and nobility. From looking at the poster, the audience may interpret that the movie is not only about the darkness but it also talks about something that is powerful and stunning, such as the upper-class society. Besides the black and gold tones, the designer also adds a blue hue at the back, giving a sentimental feeling to the audience. The blue color has multiple meanings but in this poster, it refers blue as the color of the past and the main character's nostalgia. Since blue displays behind the gold lines, almost blends into the black background and covers the main character's head, it suggests that the main character perhaps is a person who lives in the past and refuses to accept the present, which is quite depressing. As a whole, the background colors on the poster indicate that the movie is about the glamorous yet gloomy life of the characters.

While the colors on the background relate to the content of the movie, the characters' clothing express their personalities. It can be easily seen that the man who stands in the middle of the poster is the main character. He wears a simple yet expensive black tuxedo. Because of its simplicity and elegance, black is usually worn for formal events and never out of fashion. While the black hue on the background represents the darkness, the main character's black suit suggests that he is a nice, well-educated man who comes from a wealthy family. However, his black tux almost merges into the black background behind, making the audience hard to see his full body. From his appearance, it can be interpreted that he is a mysterious man who keeps many secrets, not only his but maybe others as well. Perhaps, he has a dark side that nobody knows. Closest to the front of the poster is a beautiful blond woman, who wears an expensive silver fur scarf with silver and pearl jewelry on her arms and gold-blond hair. Amongst the characters in the poster, this woman wears the most jewelry and luxurious clothes, which can be understood that she would have a close connection with the main character and is a lady from an upper-class family. Her fully-covered outlook gives the audience a frail feeling, provoking everyone's desire to protect and take care of her. This character appears as an American typical sweetheart, who is the center of attention.

On the right of the poster, there is a man standing in a dark blue suit. From the light reflection of the suit, it is easy to see his suit is made of silk, a deluxe material that only the rich can afford. However, he is also wearing a yellow hat that seems to be made of dried sedge and deviates to the left, creating a shadow on his face and makes him seems to be intimidated. His hat raises the question to the audience: Why would a wealthy man wear such junky hat? The cheap-looking hat is unsuitable with his suit and relates himself as a troublemaker. On the left of the main character, there is a man that has a wandering look in brown. His simple khaki suit refers that he is a simple, down-to-earth man. Although he is well-dressed, the material of his suit creates a rough feeling, making his suit more cheaply than the other men. From his appearance, the audience would expect a man comes from a middle-class family. The men's outfits and standing positions imply that they come from different classes and their personalities are contrasting to each other. Next to the man in brown is a woman wearing a black dress with silver decorations on it. Similar to the main character, her black dress indicates that she is an attractive and mysterious woman; it seems that she is hiding some secrets. Unlike the blond woman, her outfit is simpler without the fur coat and less jewelry, indicating that she might be from a middle-class family. On the other side of the poster is a lustful-looking woman in red. Her dress has a low cut with black lace hem around the neck, her bosoms seem to show more, which creates a lusty feeling. Besides, from the plastic the jewelry that she wears, the audience can understand that she does not rich at all and maybe a woman that uses her body to seduce and take advantage of men. By using the color language, the poster designer has successfully expressed the characters' personality as well as their social status.

Lastly, the text in the poster also represents the theme of the movie in a simple way through style, color, and size of the text. The movie is named after the protagonist, which indicates this movie is about a man named Gatsby. The color of the title is silver, symbolizes the luxury life of the upper society in the movie. Additionally, the text is decorated with little sparkling diamond pieces, which creates a glow to the poster and advocates the theme of the movie. Although the title on the poster is The Great Gatsby, "The Great" phrase size is smaller than "Gatsby" and refers that maybe Gatsby is not that "great" of the man. Possibly, Gatsby is just a simple, ordinary man. 

From the poster of The Great Gatsby movie, the audience can partially understand the theme and the characters of the movie. First, the color language reveals the dark side of the upper society. Beside the color, the clothing of each character in the poster indicates their personality and give the audience a general sense of the movie. Lastly, the design and meaning behind the title of the movie The Great Gatsby gives a general idea of the theme and better image of the protagonist in the movie to the audience. Through the poster, the designer has successfully imparted basic information about the movie to the audience.

