Romeo + Juliet

See also the play by William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

***William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet*** is an Academy Award nominated 1996 American movie adaptation of William Shakespeare's romantic tragedy _Romeo and Juliet_. It was directed by Australian Baz Luhrmann and                  stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes in the title roles.

The movie is a version of Shakespeare's play designed to appeal to a younger modern audience. It is set in present-day fictional Verona Beach, Florida, but uses the style of language from the original novel. The fighting families (the Montagues and the Capulets) are represented as competing business empires, swords are replaced by guns etc. Despite the adaptation, the movie retains Shakespeare's original dialogue, though edited for modern cinema audiences.

## Cast

- Leonardo DiCaprio as Romeo Montague
- Claire Danes as Juliet Capulet
- John Leguizamo as Tybalt Capulet
- Harold Perrineau as Mercutio
- Brian Dennehy as Ted Montague
- Dash Mihok as Benvolio Montague
- Christina Pickles as Caroline Montague
- Paul Sorvino as Fulgencio Capulet
- Diane Venora as Gloria Capulet
- Miriam Margolyes as Nurse Angelica
- Paul Rudd as Dave Paris
- Pete Postlethwaite as Friar Lawrence
- Vondie Curtis-Hall as Captain Escalus Prince
- Jesse Bradford as Balthasar
- M. Emmet Walsh as Apothecary
- Zak Orth as Gregory
- Jamie Kennedy as Sampson

## Response

Critics gave the movie good reviews. On the review given by Rotten Tomatoes, 74% of critics gave the movie positive reviews, based on 38 reviews. Roger Ebert of the _Chicago Sun-Times_ disliked the movie, giving it 2 stars and said "This production was a very bad idea. I have never seen anything remotely approaching the mess that the new punk version of Romeo & Juliet makes of Shakespeare's tragedy." Ebert wrote that Pete Postlethwaite and Miriam Margolyes were "the only actors in the movie who seem completely at home" and said "In one grand but doomed gesture, writer-director Baz Luhrmann has made a movie that (a) will dismay any lover of Shakespeare, and (b) bore anyone lured into the theater by promise of gang wars, MTV-style."

The movie won several awards. At the Berlin International Film Festival in 1997, Leonardo DiCaprio won the Silver Bear Award for Best Actor and director Baz Luhrmann won the Alfred Bauer Award. Luhrmann was also nominated for the Golden Bear Award for Best Picture.

## Other websites

- Official website

## Infobox (movie)

- **name**: Romeo + Juliet
- **caption**: Theatrical poster for _William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet'
- **director**: Baz Luhrmann
- **writer**: William Shakespeare (_Play_)
Craig Pearce (_Screenplay_)
Baz Luhrmann (_Screenplay_)
- **starring**: Leonardo DiCaprio
Claire Danes
John Leguizamo
Harold Perrineau
Pete Postlethwaite
Paul Sorvino
Brian Dennehy
Paul Rudd
Vondie Curtis-Hall
Miriam Margolyes
Jesse Bradford
Dash Mihok
- **producer**: Baz Luhrmann
Gabriella Martinelli
- **music**: Nellee Hooper
(_Composer_)
Craig Armstrong (composer), Craig Armstrong
(_Composer_)
(_Orchestrator_)
(_Conductor_)
Marius De Vries
(_Composer'')
- **cinematography**: Donald McAlpine
- **editing**: Jill Bilcock
- **distributor**: 20th Century Fox
- **released**: November 1, 1996
- **runtime**: 120 minutes
- **country**: United States
- **language**: English
- **budget**: United States dollar, $14,500,000 (estimated)