Review of Romeo + Juliet (1996) by Dawdlingpoet — 27 Nov 2021

This is a romantic drama film, with themes including feuding families, forbidden love, urban gangs and duels. Its very much a colourful, stylish film - if anything, visually it looks as if its gone to town with bright vivid colours - mostly yellow and blue at the start. This is a Baz Luhrmann film and his films do tend to be quite flamboyant and colourful, it has to be said.

The dialogue between characters is what I presume to be true to the original Shakespeare play (lots of 'thine's, 'shall's and the like). The mix of extremes (proudly modern and all guns blazing and yet also with a clear historical basis or angle) is a bit disorientating and I definitely did feel there was an element of pretentiousness. I was never especially keen to see this film as a teen, as I wasn't keen on either romance based films, nor Leonardo DiCaprio as an actor then but im a little more open minded nowadays and have fairly enjoyed Luhrmann's subsequent films, so I thought I'd finally give this a watch.

There is a fair sense of campness in some of the supporting characters/actors, with Mercutio seeming to be in drag. I didn't feel some of the elements worked particularly well. There is a real sense of artificiality present, with a lot of the characters seeming to be quite exaggerated. It almost looks as if your watching a dream, or a nightmare, version of the story. I don't mind a film being fairly stylised, I expected that but I'm not convinced they got the balance quite right in this particular film adaptation. I suppose it felt like it was trying perhaps a little too hard, I'm not sure but something about it didn't quite sit well with me. Of course the story is very well known and I'd hope I couldn't really be accused of giving big plot spoilers if I say it involves tragedy - surely thats a given(?!). I did feel it was relatively engrossing - I felt the two main characters did well at seeming to be quite realistic, genuinely appearing to be in love.

Cast wise, Romeo is played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Juliet is played by Claire Danes. As I say, they both seemed to give decent performances, seeming like relatively naive teenagers, while seeming in love. They both appear to be quite head strong people, looking for their own independence, which is something I imagine many people nowadays can, perhaps, relate to. Other cast members include the late Pete Postlethwaite, as father Laurence, John Leguizamo as Tybalt, Brian Dennehy as Ted Montague, Harold Perrineau as Mercutio and a youngish Paul Rudd, as Dave Paris. Miriam Margoyles also appears, playing the nurse based at Juliets family household (that of the Capulets).

I can't help but feel like they tried a smidgen too hard to make it seem so high and mighty and in so doing, will have lost some potential viewers but I wouldn't say that it was a really bad adaptation, that its a waste or not any good. I felt like I wasn't entirely sure quite how they (by 'they' I mean the filmmakers, screenwriters, director etc.) were trying to approach it. Obviously its a modern remake, or re-telling of a classic story but the mix of both old and new elements seemed to clash at times. Some scenes seemed to work a bit better than others - its hard to explain exactly why. I quite liked the way the optimism of both Romeo and Juliet was put across - its thankfully light hearted at times and I did find myself quite enjoying watching it, seeing how the plot panned out. I wouldn't say I'm particularly a keen fan of Shakespeare's plays as such but I did quite like some aspects, such as the modern songs which are ocassionally sung or otherwise featured during scenes. I noticed the audio levels seemed a bit unbalanced (if thats the correct term?), in as much as I had to turn the volume down at points due to the characters talking so loudly and then, not long after, others seemed to be all but whispering, which was obviously frustrating. I don't normally have such issues with audio levels, so I'd presume it not to be a problem with my TV.

Content wise, this film contains some sexually suggestive innuendos, references and partial nudity is shown. There is moderate violence depicted, although there is a threat of violence present for most of the film. Self harm is depicted and people are shown with bloody injuries. Some characters are shown smoking cigarettes. The film has been given a 12 rating in the UK, due to this content.

No, I don't think I would over all recommend this film as such. Its surprisingly engrossing and the cast give pretty decent performances, plus it uses music well but it felt a little over-stylised and I felt the mix of old and new just didn't quite sit right with me and then the audio levels seemed a little 'out'. I suppose its purely down to personal taste - I've no doubt that some people really like this and if you think that you may do as well, then feel free to give it a watch but personally, I wouldn't say its any more than average.