Verona, FL? Verona, CA? How about Verona, Mexico?

Rating: Null/10 (4 February 2004)

Unsurprisingly the most general assumption of those commenting on this movie is that it is set in Verona Beach, be it Florida or California. It would be just natural to assume that given the curious enjoyment of some U.S. people to have their own versions of famous cities worldwide (there are at least 22 cities named Paris and 11 named Venice).
Little they know that this version of Romeo and Juliet was filmed almost entirely in Mexico City and Veracruz, Mexico. And the only Verona Beach in the U.S. is in the state of New York.
Beyond the point of the geographical place of the filming locations lets not forget a very basic principle: movies are make-believe. This story is set in "the fair Verona", not in Verona, CA nor even in Verona, Italy. It is set in Romeo and Juliet's Verona where all this dramatic fantasy takes place.
Luhrmann's main achievement with this film was to create his own version of Shakespeare's classic. I don't know what was his or the producer's target market nor if the selection of then hot Leonardo was just to achieve box office success. The bottom line is that he created a new reality for this long-told story without even trying to convince the audience that this could be actually happening in our time. And that to me makes the movie work in a honest and creative way.