Movie Review – Romeo + Juliet

William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet (1996)
Written by William Shakespeare & Craig Pearce and Baz Luhrmann
Directed by Baz Luhrmann 

Romeo + Juliet exists as the confluence of two things. The first was the Shakespeare boom of the 1990s when films based on or inspired by his work had a moment in popular culture. At the same time, Australian director Baz Luhrmann received heaps of praise for his directorial debut, Strictly Ballroom. Luhrman’s approach to the text was that he saw Shakespeare as a writer for the masses, and thus, if the Bard made a contemporary feature film, it would be bold & loud. Luhrmann reasoned the popular entertainment of the day were things like bear-baiting and prostitution; Shakespeare would have played things in a way that kept the crowds happy.

I am not a fan of Romeo and Juliet, the play. I completely understand why it’s one of the first plays we use to introduce Shakespeare to students, but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to find it very dull. It is like a young adult novel written in an older form of English, and I don’t find the central conflict that compelling. Yet, if you were going to make a Shakespeare film that pulled in young people of the mid-1990s, I don’t think you could do a better job than this. Luhrmann understands how to blend the two aesthetics into a functional whole. 

Verona Beach, California, has become a hotbed of gang activity caused by the rivalry between the Capulet and Montague families. There’s no real origin to this animosity; it is simply that the younger generation is carrying on the hatred of their elders. Amidst the chaos of the violence, love blooms. Romeo Montague (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Juliet Capulet (Claire Danes) meet at a party, unaware of who the other is. Once they discover their families are at war, their love seems doomed, but they cling to each other even more tightly. A confrontation between Romeo and Juliet’s cousin Tybalt (John Leguizamo) results in two deaths that threaten to destroy our lovers and ultimately does.

Because this is contemporaneous, the opening dialogue of the chorus is given to a new anchor who delivers their report on gang violence in Elizabethan English. Instead of wielding swords, our young men are gunslingers, complete with an explosive opening shootout at a gas station. Instead of the Prince of Verona, we have Captain Prince, who is the chief of police. The stylings of this world are very well done which is something Lurhmann’s productions excel at. He is an incredible visual director and crams so much into every frame while employing quick-cut editing. The result is more akin to an MTV music video of the era than Shakespeare, which is the intended effect.

The ultimate problem with this decision is that Luhrmann unsurprisingly delivers us something far too heavy-handed and loses the emotional depth of the play. Sticking to the text creates some issues. When an early line of dialogue mentions the drawing of swords, we cut to a close-up of a handgun branded “Sword.” A gangster sports a Montague tattoo on his neck to ensure we know who he’s with. You’re set up for something moving at hyperspeed, but then the film suddenly slows down in a way not complementary to this bombastic opening.

One of the biggest problems with the film is our leads; we spend a lot of time with them. While I’ve come to appreciate work from DiCaprio and Danes as they have aged, this is not good. I kept thinking of a well-funded high school production more interested in casting beautiful faces than actors who understood how to deliver the text. When you see them juxtaposed with Peter Postelwaithe or Miriam Margolyes, it acts as a cold splash of water, and the central characters’ performances are dreadfully uninteresting.

There are talented actors in the supporting roles: Brian Dennehey, Paul Sorvino, Christina Pickles, Paul Rudd, and M. Emmett Walsh – but they aren’t given much to do. Luhrmann insists that Romeo & Juliet are the most interesting ones here and fails to direct performances that match the claim. Again, I get why young people generally liked this movie. You have two very pretty young people to look at, but you need to care about what’s happening at a certain point rather than gaze at pleasant pictures.

I found myself unsure of who this movie was for. The fast-paced action is only in short-lived bursts, while other scenes are shot in a manner that lacks much creative thought. This Shakespeare adaptation hasn’t aged well because it’s so scatterbrained about its intent. Unsurprisingly, this tone would carry over into other Lurhmann’s productions, sort of a signature of the filmmaker. I suppose some people like this, but it was not for me.