Mutant Reviewers from Hell do
“Romeo, Romeo, whyfore art thou Romeo?”

[year/rating] 1996 PG-13 [genre] Romance Drama [director] Baz Luhrmann [starring] Leonardo DiCaprio Claire Danes John Leguizamo Harold Perrineau Jr.

Tagline

My only love sprung from my only hate.

Summary Capsule

Classic Shakespearian love story gets an update for the MTV generation.

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Check out this movie in VHS or DVD, and the soundtrack CD

Rich's Rating: (Romeo + Juliet) x Tragedy + Cool = This film
Rich's Review: As I’ve mentioned before in my reviews (particularly my Rozencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead review) my start with the works of the Great Bard wasn’t a happy one, mainly because my foolish English teacher decided to make us read a Shakespearian comedy, which are about as funny and appealing as having clumsy dental work done. Fortunately, a couple of years later a far more wise and sensible teacher of mine realised that what kids really want these days are stories which involve violence and death, so we studied Macbeth, and I learned that this Shakespeare guy wasn’t that bad after all.

"As opposed to jokes actually in Shakespeare’s plays, which require a certain pomposity or some kind of sense of humour lobotomy for people to find amusing"

In fact, between then and now, I’ve managed to read most of the tragedies and histories, seen most of the decent screen adaptations of Shakespeare’s works (though I’ve deliberately avoided Mel Gibson’s Hamlet on the grounds that it would probably just make angry and nauseous at the same time), and even seen a few of his plays performed in theatres by respectable actors and everything. It’s got so bad that I can now laugh at jokes with Shakespearian references (as opposed to jokes actually in Shakespeare’s plays, which require a certain pomposity or some kind of sense of humour lobotomy for people to find amusing). I can even fairly accurately quote whole swathes of Shakespearian dialogue or speeches off the top of my head, which as a kid I always thought was the height of pretension.

I’d say it’s hard to deny that old Shakey knew how to write a story. They do say that there are only 12 stories in the world, and Shakespeare wrote them all (or some nonsense like that). But regardless of the truth or not of that statement, Hollywood, ever keen to steal a good story when they see one, has produced any number of updated, reworked, or revised versions of Shakespearian work over the years. Some are great (I don’t think anyone would argue West Side Story with me there; also the Ian McKellan Richard III is equally fantastic) and some not so great.

So where does Baz Luhrmann’s reworking of the world’s classic tragic love story come on that "great" sliding scale? Quite unashamedly, I’m happy to call it awesome in every respect, despite the fact that Leo DiCaprio is in it.

See, because back in the heady days of 1995, no-one really knew who Leo was. I’d seen him in precisely one film before this one (The Quick and The Dead, with Sharon Stone) and so had yet to be exposed to the Mass DiCaprio Overload Effect that would follow after Titanic. Because he certainly wasn’t the big Hollywood name he is now back then, he was just another young, fresh faced actor looking for a big break. As a result, I was able to appreciate R&J when it first came out without having to get around my visceral loathing of the sprout-faced little goon.

On top of that, the rest of the cast are pretty close to fantastic as well, with special kudos reserved for John Leguizamo as Tybalt and Harold Perrineau Jr. as Mercutio, who are locked in fierce competition for the title of “Coolest character in the entire film”.

If you don’t know the plot to Romeo & Juliet, then shame on you — get yourself back to school and demand that they prepare you better for the world. However, here’s the gist: The son and daughter of a pair of feuding families fall in love, defy their parents and get married, which causes all manner of death, duals, shrieking, banishments, sulking, and a sudden upswing in the sales of poison and daggers, ending when the situation has got just about as bad as it can possibly get for everyone involved. Such is the nature of tragedy, I guess. This isn’t Bambi.

What makes this version of R&J great in my opinion is the super-frantic technicolour updating it gets at the hands of director Baz Luhrmann. Not only is most of the original dialogue intact, and the story unchanged in any major way, the addition of the stunning visuals and clever thematic touches (to avoid changing the references to "swords" and "daggers" in the dialogue, all the guns that people use are named after the relevant pointy weapons of antiquity, for instance) mean that even if you get lost in the "whyfores" and "foreasmuches" of the dialogue, the on-screen action alone will keep you on board with whats roughly happening long enough for the syllable count to subside a little and for you to understand what people are saying again.

The music video pacing, the overblown but amazing sets, and fantastic updating all complement a story that was a classic hundreds of years before Hollywood was even conceived. If the original R&J was really nice ice-cream, Baz Luhrmann has added sprinkles, chocolate sauce, whipped cream and a cherry on top; he’s made a good thing great.

So, discard your Shakespearian inhibitions, and go rent this film.

"This is my so-called gun! There are many like it, but this one is mine!" 100% Grade-A Stud "Um... did it hurt... when you, like, fell from heaven?"

Didja Notice? [some sources: IMDb]

• How cool everyone’s guns look with the family crests on? I mean, seriously, they’re pretty smart.
• All the posters and slogans which keep showing up bearing lines from other Shakespeare plays?
• To say that Paris is the most eligible bachelor in Verona, he’s quite the nerd when it comes to the dancefloor. And seriously, who goes to a fancy dress party as an Astronaut?
• A number of important moments (and a lot of trivial ones) involve water. When we first see Juliet, she is holding her head under water; when Romeo and Juliet first see each other, it's through a fish tank; the balcony scene is moved from a balcony to a swimming pool; Mercutio is killed at the beach; when Tybalt is shot, he falls into a pond; Juliet's wedding date is decided in a sauna (ie steam); when the banished Romeo comes to Juliet's room he is drenched from the pouring rain, and when he leaves the next morning he falls into the pool again
• The film runs for exactly two hours, in line with the prologue which states: "Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage"

Is It Worth Staying Through End Credits?

Nothing to see here, amigos.

Intermission! [some sources: IMDb]

The pool hall that Romeo and Benvolio enter is in a building called "Globe." The Globe Theatre in England was the site of William Shakespeare's original productions in Elizabethan times.

In the opening fight scene at the service station, the Montagues provoke the Capulets with the infamous biting of the thumb. In Shakespeare's play, though, it is the Capulets who are the thumb-biters.

A billboard at Verona Beach bears the sign "L'amour" (it's in red and white, and looks a bit like the Coca Cola logo). The same sign can be seen outside Christian's window in Moulin Rouge! (2001), another Baz Luhrmann film. The sign had also appeared (this time in the form of a Coca Cola logo) in Luhrmann's film Strictly Ballroom (1992), and in his stage production of "La Boheme".

The majority of sets were built from scratch in order to achieve the film's unique look. The Sycamore Grove theatre and huts on Verona Beach were actually destroyed by a hurricane during filming. The beginning of the hurricane is evident during Mercutio's death scene, and many pick up shots had to be filmed elsewhere.

The production designer and the costume designer make cameo appearances as Gloria Capulet's maids. They are seen in the film dressing Juliet's mother in her Cleopatra costume before the ball.

Claire Danes wears a wig throughout the movie and also had a special aquatic wig for her underwater scenes.

Groovy Quotes

Romeo: Is love a tender thing? It is too rough, too rude, too boisterous, and it pricks like thorn.
Mercutio: If love be rough with you, be rough with love. Prick love for pricking and you beat love down.

Benvolio: By my head, here come the Capulets!
Mercutio: By my heel, I care not.

Benvolio: Why, Romeo, art thou mad?
Romeo: Not mad, but bound more than a mad man is. Shut up in prison, kept without my food, whipped and tormented.

Juliet: O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name, or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, and I shall no longer be a Capulet.
Romeo: Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?
Juliet: 'Tis but thy name that is my enemy, thou art thyself though not a Montague. What's Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot, nor arm, nor face, nor any other part belonging to a man. Oh, what's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet; so Romeo would, were he not Romeo called, retain that dear perfection to which he owes without that title. Romeo, doff thy name! And for thy name, which is no part of thee, take all myself.

If you liked this movie, try these:

• West Side Story
• Hamlet
• Othello