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ROMEO + JULIET (1996)
Baz Luhrmann did his own flashy re-thinking of The Great Gatsby back in 2013, but long before that, he took on Shakespeare with his eye-popping interpretation of Romeo + Juliet, the ultimate story of star-crossed lovers that Luhrmann made palatable for the masses thanks to a contemporary setting, an impressive cast, and Luhrmann's accustomed cinematic razzle dazzle.
Shakespeare's most famous work was brought to the screen three times prior to this version. Norma Shearer and Leslie Howard played the young lovers in 1936. Laurence Harvey and Susan Shentall inherited the roles in 1954 and in 1968, utilizing casting closest to Shakespeare's vision of the characters, Franco Zeffirelli cast 17 year old Leonard Whiting and 15 year old Olivia Hussey as the lovers. The story was also re-thought as a Broadway musical in 1955 called West Side Story, which came to the screen in 1961. Luhrmann scores casting Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes, who appear age appropriate for the roles, as the young loves kept apart by the long standing feud between their families, not to mention that both have been promised to others, but from their first accidental meeting, it's love at first sight and these young people decide that nothing, not even their families, will keep them apart.
Major cajones are required to put your own interpretation to Shakespeare, but lack of cajones has never been an issue with Baz Luhrman. What Luhrmann has done here with the aid of screenwriter Craig Pearce, is to retain Shakespeare's original dialogue but that's where all resemblance to previous versions of the story ends. Luhrmann has chosen to set the story in the present in Florida and immediately establishes the feud between the two families by opening the story with an intimidating shot of the city skyline with two tall skyscrapers in the center, one with the name "Montague" on it and the other with the name "Capulet", a very effective tool in letting the audience know that these two families are enemies and have been for a long time. Not to mention the bloody gun battle between the Capulet and Montague gangs that bring to mind the Jets and Sharks in West Side Story.
The other thing that Luhrmann does is break down Shakespeare's dialogue, making it more accessible to contemporary audiences by making sure that his actors know exactly what's going on at all times, and what the actors don't give us is provided by Luhrmann's very busy camera...that does a surprisingly efficient job of making the audience understand anything that might be fuzzy in the dialogue. whether it is the way characters react to each other or the pacing of the individual scenes, almost to the point of comic relief...rarely have I seen such effective use of the fast motion camera, used to maximum effect during the preparations for the Capulet party and with Lady Capulet's frantic dealings with her daughter.
With all the attention to visual trappings, Luhrmann still manages to get some compelling performances from his cast. DiCaprio and Danes make charismatic lovers who we care about from the first moment they lay eyes on each other from opposite sides of a fish tank (one of my favorite moments in the film, sensitively filmed). They receive solid support from Harold Perrineau as Mercutio, Miriam Margoyles as the Nurse, John Leguizamo as Tybalt, and Diane Venora steals every scene she's in as Lady Capulet. Since it's Baz Luhrmann we're talking about here, needless to say the production values are nothing short of superb. The film features often dizzying camera work, film editing, art direction, and, of course, costumes. If you've always been a little gun-shy about Shakespeare, you might want to give this version a try.
Baz Luhrmann did his own flashy re-thinking of The Great Gatsby back in 2013, but long before that, he took on Shakespeare with his eye-popping interpretation of Romeo + Juliet, the ultimate story of star-crossed lovers that Luhrmann made palatable for the masses thanks to a contemporary setting, an impressive cast, and Luhrmann's accustomed cinematic razzle dazzle.
Shakespeare's most famous work was brought to the screen three times prior to this version. Norma Shearer and Leslie Howard played the young lovers in 1936. Laurence Harvey and Susan Shentall inherited the roles in 1954 and in 1968, utilizing casting closest to Shakespeare's vision of the characters, Franco Zeffirelli cast 17 year old Leonard Whiting and 15 year old Olivia Hussey as the lovers. The story was also re-thought as a Broadway musical in 1955 called West Side Story, which came to the screen in 1961. Luhrmann scores casting Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes, who appear age appropriate for the roles, as the young loves kept apart by the long standing feud between their families, not to mention that both have been promised to others, but from their first accidental meeting, it's love at first sight and these young people decide that nothing, not even their families, will keep them apart.
Major cajones are required to put your own interpretation to Shakespeare, but lack of cajones has never been an issue with Baz Luhrman. What Luhrmann has done here with the aid of screenwriter Craig Pearce, is to retain Shakespeare's original dialogue but that's where all resemblance to previous versions of the story ends. Luhrmann has chosen to set the story in the present in Florida and immediately establishes the feud between the two families by opening the story with an intimidating shot of the city skyline with two tall skyscrapers in the center, one with the name "Montague" on it and the other with the name "Capulet", a very effective tool in letting the audience know that these two families are enemies and have been for a long time. Not to mention the bloody gun battle between the Capulet and Montague gangs that bring to mind the Jets and Sharks in West Side Story.
The other thing that Luhrmann does is break down Shakespeare's dialogue, making it more accessible to contemporary audiences by making sure that his actors know exactly what's going on at all times, and what the actors don't give us is provided by Luhrmann's very busy camera...that does a surprisingly efficient job of making the audience understand anything that might be fuzzy in the dialogue. whether it is the way characters react to each other or the pacing of the individual scenes, almost to the point of comic relief...rarely have I seen such effective use of the fast motion camera, used to maximum effect during the preparations for the Capulet party and with Lady Capulet's frantic dealings with her daughter.
With all the attention to visual trappings, Luhrmann still manages to get some compelling performances from his cast. DiCaprio and Danes make charismatic lovers who we care about from the first moment they lay eyes on each other from opposite sides of a fish tank (one of my favorite moments in the film, sensitively filmed). They receive solid support from Harold Perrineau as Mercutio, Miriam Margoyles as the Nurse, John Leguizamo as Tybalt, and Diane Venora steals every scene she's in as Lady Capulet. Since it's Baz Luhrmann we're talking about here, needless to say the production values are nothing short of superb. The film features often dizzying camera work, film editing, art direction, and, of course, costumes. If you've always been a little gun-shy about Shakespeare, you might want to give this version a try.