Excellent

Rating: 10/10 (21 February 2002)

Baz Luhrmann is one of the greatest directors I have ever seen. He goes past what everyone will think and does his own thing. An example would be his spectacular musical, "Moulin Rouge!" He did everything his way and it turned out to be something I truly enjoy. That's why it's up for the second most amount of Oscars tied with, "A Beautiful Mind." Now with Romeo and Juliet, Baz Luhrmann does an interesting twist. He exchanges the older setting for a modernized one. Many, I have heard did not appreciate this and probably did not believe that it should ever be done. However, Baz kept the language and proved a fact I have recently learned. My English teacher told my class that, "Times change, but people don't." That is demonstrated here in this film, the time changed, but the people did not. They shared the same hate, the same love, the same tragedy. Baz Luhrmann connected with a younger audience because I first saw this when I was 10 years old and somehow followed the story. I hadn't ever read Romeo and Juliet, but that movie gave me this craving to learn about it. So I waited to read it in school so I could learn what it meant and now I am. The movie was different, but it still showed me how Shakespeare's plays have stayed alive through all these years, and it also showed me that times do change, but people do not. It should not matter what way this was filmed or wasn't. Shakespeare borrowed a story told over time and made it his own. He made it the way he wanted it, and everyone does the same when they borrow something. They make it their own, just as Baz Luhrmann did. And people can personally hate it, but they should at least respect it. I personally believe that this was a great retelling of the classic play and now that I am reading Shakespeare's version, I am understanding more and more of the movie. To me, this was one in a million, and no one else could have pulled it off as great as he did.