- Film Review
- Reviewed By Andrew Collins
-
4 out of 5
Baz Luhrmann's flamboyantly hip, achingly modern and unashamedly teen-targeted update of Shakespeare's enduring romantic tragedy casts Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes in the star-crossed title roles. The lovers are transplanted from 15th-century Italy to MTV-era "Verona Beach" - a place of gang warfare, raves, motorbikes and party drugs. The dialogue is true to the text, but delivered as if it were modern parlance, while the soundtrack (a mix of alt-rock, dance and orchestral) keeps the narrative pumping along. A closer cousin to West Side Story than Franco Zeffirelli's lush 1968 classic, it couldn't be more palatable to younger audiences, while Pete Postlethwaite, Paul Sorvino and Miriam Margoyles add adult thespian gravitas. A bold, infectious and courageous entry to the canon of Shakespeare adaptations - abridged and tweaked, inevitably - it made DiCaprio a teen pin-up and minted Luhrmann as one of modern cinema's master showmen.
Plot Summary
Director Baz Luhrmann's dazzling adaptation of Shakespeare's romantic tragedy, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes. In Verona Beach, teenagers Romeo and Juliet meet by chance and fall in love. They plan to marry secretly because of the hostility between their families, the Montagues and the Capulets. But when Romeo kills Juliet's cousin in a gang fight and is banished, his plan to be reunited with his intended goes tragically wrong.
Cast and crew
Cast
- Romeo
- Leonardo DiCaprio
- Juliet
- Claire Danes
- Ted Montague
- Brian Dennehy
- Tybalt
- John Leguizamo
- Father Laurence
- Pete Postlethwaite
- Fulgencio Capulet
- Paul Sorvino
- Gloria Capulet
- Diane Venora
- Mercutio
- Harold Perrineau
- Dave Paris
- Paul Rudd
- Balthasar
- Jesse Bradford
- Benvolio
- Dash Mihok
- Nurse
- Miriam Margolyes
Crew
- Director
- Baz Luhrmann
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