Wonderful (and overlooked) Shakespeare Adaptation

Rating: 9/10 (20 July 2006)

As a teenager who has had a love affair with film all of his life and who is a great admirer of Shakespeare, I must state that Baz Luhrmann's film version of William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet is one of the most important films of both the 1990s and in Shakespearean culture. It is also a great romance film (think of it as a Titanic for literature enthusiasts). The reason I say that is because it made Shakespeare as entertaining to see in a new generation as it was back in the 1600s. One must admit, that to an average teenager (or person, for that matter), Shakespeare is as boring as reading a tax filing instruction book. With the language and "iambic pentameter" (a rhythmic way of speaking with five beats for each line of Shakespeare, which is something conservative Shakespeare scholars hold dear) Shakespeare can sound like clapping with one hand. However, with Baz's creativity and style, R+J is one of the most entertaining adaptations of Shakespeare ever put on film. From the dazzling visuals to the working chemistry between Leo and Claire, Shakespeare is made fun again.
A lot of people knock this version for its extreme over-the-top style and the changing of the simplest elements (changing swords to guns, use of rock music), but to make a hit, that's what you have to do to get your point across. Sure, most of the text is cut and some plot elements from the original is left out, but that does not change the true story by much (you think a teenager would want to sit through the WHOLE play on film?). You have to admit, Shakespeare's not easy to translate to the screen, so one must give Baz a lot of credit for trying and succeeding. Sure its bawdy, violent and over the top, but that's his style. You can't blame a director for using his own style to make an entertaining film. And the way he updates the details to match the era is fantastic (usage of cars, gun handling, Mercutio as a drag queen, Queen Mab as a drug, Prince as a cop, etc.). A lot of people knock the simplest changes, most often touched upon being the swords-to-guns controversy. Think about it: your living in the 1990s, who's going to carry a sword? And while there are wonderful qualities, the negative ones must be briefly touched upon. The language is sometimes spoken without any sort of rhythm at all (I'm not knocking it for not using iambic pentameter, but since Shakespeare is poetic, treat it like it is poetry) and is sometimes spoken as if it were slang. Some of the actors handle it very nicely, and some just crash and burn. I must say, that I bet there were many teens in the audience scratching their heads at what everybody was talking about, but I think it's good for people to listen to movies and not just watch them. One thing I was personally annoyed by was the use of that song "Pretty Piece of Flesh". It's used once in the first scene, then used again ten minutes later in a scene with the same exact people. Is that all they listen to? Other than that, there are not many negative elements to touch upon.
*SPOILER WARNING*Some of the scenes are absolutely spectacular. The gas station scene is wonderfully cartoonish as it mimics a spaghetti-Western shootout, the first encounters between Romeo and Juliet are beautifully done (especially the elevator scene and the pool scene), and the rewritten final scene between Romeo and Juliet is convincing and tragic (and convincingly tragic). I was so into that scene that I was sort of yelling at the screen for Juliet to make a move to Romeo faster in order to show that she's alive. It's little things like those that helps you know how convincing the romance is between the two, and overall it was an extremely powerful and moving scene. The performances from the two are great, as well as Mercutio, Tybalt (who is played by an extremely badass Leguizamo), Friar, Nurse and Prince. This is one of my favorite films, both from the 1990s and of all time, and I hope that in the future, many more people will discover it the way I did.