Retro Film Review: Romeo + Juliet (1996)

In one of his stories science fiction author Isaac Asimov brings William Shakespeare to present day and observes that the Bard, unlike all the other great writers and thinkers of the past, won't succumb to the cultural shock while being confronted with alien future world. Asimov explains this by stating that Shakespeare's genius, just like his work, had certain timeless quality, allowing the Bard to adapt to all ages and fashions. We'll never know whether Asimov was right or not, but Shakespeare's work continues to be rich source of inspiration for many artists today, film makers included. This is especially evident in recent times, with the flood of films based on Shakespeare's plays, many of them set in time periods and places different than those imagined four centuries ago. Of them all probably the best known is Romeo + Juliet, spectacular 1996 adaptation of Shakespeare's most romantic play, directed by Australian film maker Bazz Luhrmann.

The plot of the film, on the other hand, doesn't appear to stray from Shakespeare's text. It is set in Verona, city plagued by the constant street fights between Montagues and Capulets, two rival clans. Romeo Montague (played by Leonardo di Caprio), the only heir of Montague family, seems to suffer from unrequited love and his good friend Mercuzio (played by Harold Perrineau Jr.) tries to cheer him up by crashing a party at Capulet mansion. There Romeo meets and falls in love with Juliet (played by Claire Danes), young daughter of Capulet family. This love is requited and two youngsters quickly validate their union by secret marriage. The bliss doesn't last long, because Juliet's cousin Tybalt (played by John Leguizamo) kills Mercuzio, prompting Romeo to avenge that death and get banished for that crime. In the meantime, Capulets arrange Juliet's marriage, forcing the young girl to take drastic action in order to evade such fate - this time in the form of faked death. But this complicated plan to reunite with Romeo would misfire with tragic consequences.

Script by Craig Pearce and Bazz Luhrmann keeps the integrity of Shakespeare's text, but mostly thanks to the actors speaking the very same lines of iambic pentameter as written four centuries ago. Anything else is fair game for Luhrmann who shows many ingenious ways to create both modern and faithful adaptation. So, in this film Verona, instead of medieval Italian city becomes sprawling megalopolis somewhere between Florida and Mexico; "Montagues" and "Capulets", instead of rival aristocratic clans, are combination of business corporations and street gangs; people ride "horses" in the form of fancy automobiles and draw "swords" that fire bullets. This allows Luhrmann to stage few almost surreal scenes – street altercation in the beginning of play becomes spectacular gunfight at the petrol station; party at Capulet mansion is shown as psychedelic orgy, while the famous balcony scene takes most of the time in the pool. Luhrmann also plays with characterisation, giving his own take on Shakespeare's original - Mercuzio is shown as pill-popping drag queen, while Father Laurence (played by Pete Postlethwaite) looks like a priest who follows teachings of Timothy Leary more than teachings of Jesus Christ. All this is presented through frenetic MTV- style editing and accompanied by contemporary pop tracks. Seeing how the old Shakespeare fits into this ultra-modern "hip" world provides a lot of fun to those who watch Romeo + Juliet.

While most people would be blown away when they see Romeo + Juliet for the first time, on subsequent viewing the novelty would wear off and the impression wouldn't be so overwhelming. Some of the film's flaws would become more apparent. Most notable of them is great imbalance between form and the content. Luhrmann was so obsessed with the idea to give "hip" look to Shakespeare that he forgot to pay attention to characters' motivations and actions - some of them look not only anachronistic, but downright ridiculous in modern setting (Romeo being banished, instead arrested and tried for murder; Juliet committing fake suicide instead of running away from home etc.). Even at the end of the film the style saturates the story, especially with Catholic imagery that seems more suitable for Madonna video. But, even with all those flaws Romeo + Juliet is an extraordinary film that could be recommended to all those who want to encounter Shakespeare for the first time. The author of this review already witnessed this film serving its purpose. When I heard hundreds of teenage girls in the theatre reacting with shock to some plot developments, I became aware how deprived of culture modern generations are and how some Hollywood films can remedy that.

RATING: 7/10 (+++)

(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.movies.reviews on May 7th 2003)

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Movie URL: https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/454-romeo-juliet
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