Definitely worth watching, but upsetting to Shakespearean lovers

Rating: 9/10 (24 October 2005)

I first fell in love with Shakespeare's story of the most well-known star-crossed lovers my freshman year in high school, whereupon I read the play and acted out the part of Juliet in my Global Cultural Studies class. (And ever since then, I have dreamed of playing Juliet). It's hard to describe why exactly I feel this way, though it's one of (if not, the) my favorites. I received this 1996 version with young DiCaprio and Danes as a present for my 15th birthday in May 2002. Since then, I have watched it several times, and once even in French. In my opinion, this is a wonderful life, and I was surprised by how accurately DiCaprio and Danes played the title roles. And, just as the producer had hoped (which he says on an interview on the DVD), having this play take place in modern times--in California--does help the viewers to understand Shakespeare's complex (yet beautiful) language, although now that I am in a Shakespeare class I would have understood it anyway. However, avid Shakespeareans may be upset with the ending of the play (this is the spoiler): instead of having Juliet wake up at least a couple minutes after Romeo has drunk the poisoned vial and died, Luhrmann decides to have Juliet and Romeo see each other right before his death--but unfortunately, they do not see each other in time to stop this horrible outcome. It has a quite a different effect, if you think about it!! Yet, one cannot help but just love the story nonetheless, and the fact that it's American and starring actors we know may make the film appear to us more. But whatever it is, I loved it!