China Exclusive: 'The Great Gatsby' wins mixed response in China

Director Baz Luhrmann poses for pictures on the red carpet of the Australian premiere of "The Great Gatsby" in Sydney May 22, 2013.[Photo/Agencies]

However, some criticized the film's visuals and costumes.

"The film seemed to have used Hollywood's best dressed and best technology, but the content of the film did not show the breadth of the original novel," said Miao Youchen, a junior from Tsinghua University.

Miao added that the film looks more like a grand advertising film than a feature movie.

"Although there is some distance between the film and the original novel, undoubtedly, it's a watchable movie," said a microblogger "LilanCBN" on the popular Twitter-like Sina Weibo.

Chinese movie scholars and critics argue that some of the social problems that China is facing are similar to those that plagued the US at that time.

Born in a poor family, the movie's Gatsby achieved his dream of being rich through his own struggle, but failed to attract Daisy Buchanan whom he deeply loved for many years.

"Gatsby's individual struggle for money and love, and Daisy's pursuit for material life and her apathy to Gatsby depicted a society which is somewhat similar to the current China," said Zhang Yiwu, a professor at Peking University and an active culture critic.

Zhang added that the film also revealed a universal value that young people can only achieve success by individual painstaking efforts.

Zhang Huijun, president of the Beijing Film Academy, said there are both realistic meaning and historical significance in such movies.

"From watching the movie, we should learn that due respect should be paid to ordinary people at the grassroots level in China's progress of urbanization," Zhang said.

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