This is the second review of Romeo and Juliet I've done for Ciao. The first was about Franco Zeffirelli's version starring Olivia Hussey which came out in 1968. I loved that one. This version stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Clare Danes and I was less enthusiastic.
That's not to say it isn't well done and interesting with many lavish tableaux and clever adaptations of the original story. It is. Two things got up my nose all the way through, however. Firstly, I've never been a big fan of 'messing about with Shakespeare'. By that I mean, for example, sticking Macbeth in a jeep, or Hamlet in a rocket. I like the olde worlde charm of Shakespeare to whisk me back into history and places that follow long gone rules. The olden times and how people might have dressed and behaved lend Shakespeare much of its charm. So, Othello with a mobile 'phone? Lear with an M16 rifle? Spare me.
The other thing I didn't like was the Americanisation of a tale written by a famous English playwright, over 400 years ago, about Italians. The lovely language could conceivably weave its magic in almost any other accent, (even that of Eskimos), but the subtleties and flowing, graceful, antiquated words jarred on my ears sounding like this. Don't get me wrong - I like and admire Americans. Having visited the US once I was quickly convinced that the UK is living in the dark ages compared to their advanced state of civilisation. There's nothing wrong with Americans. Go USA. Yay.
I'm saying that 'Romeo and Juliet' is old but America isn't. The language in the play reflects a much older culture and Americans are the most modern people on the planet. For me, at least,
it clashed. A gun is a gun and a sword is a sword. You can't just replace the one with the other and - hey presto! - the story is updated.
Did the story get told? Yes - it did. Despite all the modern trappings and Americanese spoken, the film stayed true to the plot. I know some will flay me for revealing too much of that but I lay bare my back on this point because I think that with Shakespeare, for many, not knowing what the hell is going on is a bigger turn off than anything else. The sophisticated and educated will have to scoff at me, then, because here I go.
Romeo - played here by DiCaprio loves Juliet - played by Claire Danes. Their families don't get on. His family is called Montague and hers, Capulet. They have fights in the street, it's that bad between them. Having secretly married Juliet without asking permission, Romeo gets into a fight that leads to a death. He is banished. Juliet is told she has to marry someone else within days in an arranged marriage. She takes a drug to make her look dead to get out of it, Romeo rushes back to see her body thinking she really is dead. He kills himself so she wakes and kills herself for real. The two families make friends but all ends in great sadness.
The huge thing to look out for is how Romeo is too quick for his own good. If at any point in the play he slowed down and stopped raving and rushing to and fro shouting things like, 'Oh, I am fortune's fool!' all would turn out well. In all Shakespearian tragedy there is a rule about a 'tragic hero'. He/she/they will have one thing about them that isn't quite right. A flaw. This will eventually lead to their death at the end of the play. It isn't just sometimes - this always happens. Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy that simply follows this rule. Where Hamlet died because he was too slow to act, Romeo and Juliet die because they're in such a hurry all the time.
This is how it goes in the original text of the play. The movie stays in line with that and the flawed heroes rush into everything, just as they should.
There are no special features except for a trailer. I'd have liked to see much more commentary and information about what went into the making of the film.
In terms of performance, Claire Danes is gorgeous so she's easy to watch, and Leonardo DiCaprio plays his part with passion and conviction. Old Capulet's anger at Juliet's refusal to marry Paris made me sit up and take notice. Mercutio appearing in drag was unexpected, and Tybalt's stylised cool with his personalised guns and little goatie beard most interesting.
I think setting Shakepeare into a modern American context was a disaster though, of course, for an American audience, maybe this is a stroke of genius, making the characters and story more accessible by wrapping them in familiar cultural imagery. It may, for example, hold the interest of the young through the use of gun-toting youth culture, snipers in helicopters, cars skidding, and great action and mood music choices throughout.
I was thinking as I watched it that they could have gone one step further and modernised the English as well. If they'd paraphrased into a modern American English, the antiquated phrases would have been effectively translated and therefore easier to understand. It would have been the Romeo and Juliet story, and set in modern times, but using modern language, and that - I think - would have been better than taking 'thee' and 'thou' and putting it into the 21st century as if it was quite normal to talk like that.
Anachronistic. There's a word to conjure with! It means to have mismatched things taken from different times. A caveman with a radio, say, or a spaceman with a trebuchet - that kind of thing. This movie is filled with anachronisms or evasions of anachronisms. The guns that replace swords annoyed me - by sticking to the word 'sword' whilst pointing a gun, the anachronistic misfit of language to modern setting was unavoidable. Romeo not being on the telephone was glaring. In Shakepeare's day and before, no one had them so no problem. A plot hanging on one letter arriving quicker than another in a modern world filled with email, cellphones, texting, faxes, can't really work. It was an urgent message so there's no way it would be sent via a slow postal service. Banishment? Nobody gets banished anymore. Juliet's arranged marriage to Paris… does that happen much in upper class American society today? I think not.
The original text, though used, is cut significantly. Perhaps it was done to accommodate the long looks of emotional anguish. These take a while and look good. Personally, I think that the heart of Shakespeare beats within the original words. There are some writers who might be improved if they were edited into brevity. Don't all point at me at once! But this is the greatest playwright who ever put pen to paper. His use of the English language is so exceptional and wonderful that snipping it seems cheeky to say the least. I, personally, think removing great lines whilst adding helicopters and Hawaiian shirts may have been an unwise exchange. The only way you're going to be able to tell if I'm right or just an antiquity like my country's language is to grab a copy for yourself.
As Dirty Harry might have said of whether one should plump for modern versions of Shakespeare or olde worlde ones, performed upon the stage, 'Dost thou feel fortune smiling upon thee, punk? Well dost thou?'
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
(+) Jack Black, very good scenes showing the chemistry between characters, excellent soundtrack (-) Cameron Diaz can be quite irritating but not enough to put me off
I like the quotes at the end of your reviews... I have a slight problem with Americans playing British parts, the accent is just .. not... quite... right really, even when they are clearly making an effort!!
gayna1979 11.01.2006 16:54
Great review. I love shakespeare, and I really liked this adaptation. Gayna x
Baz Luhrmann (Strictly Ballroom) takes a shot at reinventing Shakespeare's story of ... more
star-crossed loversRomeo and Julietas a visual pastiche inspired by MTV imagery, Hong Kong action-picture clichés, and Luhrmann's own taste for deliberate, gaudy excess...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Baz Luhrmann (Strictly Ballroom) takes a shot at reinventing Shakespeare's story of ... more
star-crossed loversRomeo and Julietas a visual pastiche inspired by MTV imagery, Hong Kong action-picture clichés, and Luhrmann's own taste for deliberate, gaudy excess...
Postage & Packaging: free Super Saver Delivery Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
![Romeo And Juliet [DVD] [1997]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78551303.jpg "Romeo And Juliet [DVD] [1997]")
![Romeo And Juliet [DVD] [1996]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/77941333.jpg "Romeo And Juliet [DVD] [1996]")
Jan 11th, 2006
exceptional by (4%):
very helpful by (93%):
helpful by (4%):
