Baz Luhrman: the only man in hollywood who understands Shakespeare?

Rating: 10/10 (23 January 2002)

I was always a fan of Shakespeare. And since 'Moulin Rouge', of Mr. Baz Luhrman. I have seen 'Strictly Ballroom' quite a few times and 'Moulin Rouge' more than any other film ever, most likely.
And so, why not see Romeo + Juliet, the one film in which the two combine? Well, maybe because there has never been a good adaptation of the play to film- never.
The 1936 one, a bore, the 1968 one, terrible, the others, well, the others most of the people I know of agree- sucks.
Except for 'Westside Story', which is, after all, not the play, just the story, and even then, one of the lesser musicals.
William Shakespeare is NOT the spectacle Hollywood would want you to believe, in fact, it isn't even the spectacle this film would leave you to believe, but nonetheless it's my honest opinion that this film IS one William Shakespeare- not in the historical context but in the context of the spirit. As Baz continually said during the commentary, track to 'Moulin Rouge', he wasn't interested in creating the real-world Moulin Rouge of 1900, or in this case the real play, on it's opening night, but rather the feel of it, for today's, modern, audience, particularly the young, hip, teens and 20-somethings, who need such aid better than anyone else.

And lets picture what that opening night would've been like. Entering `The Globe Theatre', us- the slimy peasants, with natty hair, dirty skin, smelly armpits, and hair- everywhere, even the ladies. Paying cheap prices for the cheap seats, right down in front. Not only right down in front, but on the dirt, with rats, worms, and other such creatures of the night. Ready to watch a play by one Shakespeare, we'd seen plays of his before, and enjoyed them, and excitement is building. The curtain comes up- the play begins, little scenery, costumes and props, just the words, and the actors to say them. We, such unintelligent low-life's, listen to them closely, understanding every word of poetry, hanging on to every syllable, the words filling our souls, the excitements building, and we're whisked away on and unending dream of hope, love, violence, and hate, as we have never done before, or ever will. The doomed were not kings, not emperors, not generals, or pharos, not even truly aristocrats yet, just young lovers, hopeless dreamers, slight eccentrics, as we all once were, and hoped to be again. And for the hour or two of the play's duration we were, and when they died, when it ended we wept not just for them, but also for ourselves.

This is what a truly good movie does to us, happy or sad, this is what there meant to do. Like 'Citizen Cane', 'Intolerance', 'Greed', or for a lighter fix, 'Singing in the Rain', 'A Hard Days Night', 'Moulin Rouge', and most certainly 'Romeo + Juliet'.
We go in, our jobs bugging us, the stress killing us, fear overriding us, to find sticky floors, chewing gum, and crusty popcorn. The lights gently come down, the sound, abruptly comes up, in one of those annoying THX sound blast things, and suddenly, the world changes, specks of light, sound, blacks and whites, all the colors of the rainbow, flash onto the screen in an unendingly magical mesh of sights, sounds, emotions. The story doesn't matter- if it did then this film wouldn't be here, the play would've been forgotten long from now- it's pulp drivel, violence and contrived love for the entertainment of peasants, back long before you were born. But the sights overwhelm you; the sounds fill your ear, the listen to every note, grasp every frame, and are whisked up on a journey of hope, love, violence, and hate. Thanks to the film and to the words, you become a teen-ager once again feeling love for the first time, and when they die, you weep, not just for them, but also for yourself.
Baz Luhrman is the only man, woman even, in Hollywood, or the world over, who truly understands William Shakespeare and his work, or at least attempted to bring it to the screen with such a true understanding, with the possible and quite notable exceptions of the cast and crew involved in the making, producing, and writing of this film, (a statement which has a two exceptions of it's own, dear Claire and Leo, who play the leads.)
They created a film, which brings to us, today, what the play was to them, yesterday, and those before them, and those before them, all the way to that very first performance.
The cinematography, lighting, editing, sets, and what not are some of the best if not the best I have ever seen.
The music is absolutely brilliant, even including a few minor musical numbers using modern pop songs, as Baz and his team did later in Moulin Rouge.
And then I guess we're forced to move onto the acting which is quite good, but quite a few of the lines are muddled, yelled, are meshed all together- but that is of no importance, for what word was to the peasants, the visuals, score, and sound effects are to us thus placing the word- useless.

Now of course that view might place some out of favor of this review but trust me, the film would be equally poetic with or without the work of the great Shakespeare. But the attitude would not.
This film is brilliant in all manners and if you dislike it your probably one of those `Shakespeare Purists' who think that Romeo & Juliet should be paraded in the fashion it was meant for with sets, costumes and stars the Globe would have never afforded, and using true Italian actors, on an English play, but quite frankly, not to be rude, you are quite wrong in your theory, how should Shakespeare play, like any great thing, however it's interpreters wish, but for my money, the only one worth viewing, is this, or maybe Julie Taymor's Titus- especially if you liked this, and even more so if you didn't.
A film of wonder, majesty, grace, beauty, elegance, excitement, romance, love, comedy and violence, Romeo + Juliet is truly perfect, in an (admittedly) flawed way, but aren't all greats?
AND ALSO OF NOTE- SOMEWHAT OF A ***SPOILER***: Many people have stated this films gang-war aspects were stolen from 'West-Side Story', but, if you really pay attention, the two houses in Romeo + Juliet are business rivals, their children, and friends of them, merely juvenile delinquents with some need to hate somebody and so the choose each other, due solely, to there families hate, just as in the original, relatively.