Romeo and Juliet directed by Baz Luhrmann
Review by Fabbiha Tasnem
Romeo and Juliet are reborn in Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 film adaptation of the classic story. Guess cats aren’t the only ones with 9 lives, eh? The combination of the classic love story in a modern Hollywood environment is a brilliant concept, a beautiful one, too. Shakespeare’s play was exciting enough as it was, but switch out the daggers and apothecary’s for police car chases and dramatic stabbing scenes, and there you have it; a magnificently portrayed classic. Although the overall idea remained the same, the concept was the difference of an era. No, literally. Baz Luhrmann’s idea of not changing the lines was brilliant as it allowed the lines to be more perceivable by the modern audience.
Baz Luhrmann’s concept of modernizing the story was beautiful, really. Daggers and apothecaries were replaced by guns and sketchy old men selling chemicals. The modern concept was an addition I enjoyed as it added a sense of familiarity. It made the original play more understandable and especially after reading the play itself, some scenes made more sense. Although this is a story told many times, Baz Luhrmann kept it fresh and youthful with the beautifully choreographed fight scenes. Aside from the tacky costumes, I could definitely see a movie of this sort being released in 2015.
Thankfully, the movie did not have every single soliloquy that the original play had. Because let’s be honest, the audience would be asleep half way through the movie with all those lines. However, the lines that the movie did have, were straight out of Shakespeare’s play, and remained the same. This was something that I liked, because the environment the movie took place in, it made the lines as easy to understand as any other conversation we would have today. The setting of the movie was already modern