film: william shakespeare's romeo + juliet (3.5)

[onetwothreefour]

film: william shakespeare's romeo + juliet (baz luhrman's)

i watched this for the first time in ages and i'd forgotten just how much i fucking love it.

and i felt guilty, because despite the fact that i love this and moulin rouge (and have a fair heaping of respect for strictly ballroom too), i'm quite guilty of a bit of luhrman-bashing every so often. for some reason, i've just never really valued his films despite loving them so.

but now i've changed my mind.

this was brilliant in every way. i actually really love the updated semi-modern feeling that he's given to the original play, and was quite surprised at just how much of shakespeare's original text had been retained (i'm sure i remembered its language to have also been more modernised). i definitely think this was the right way to go about things, as the miriad of quotable and memorable lines ("where art thou romeo", "a rose by any other name..." etc.). shakespeare, obviously, was a genius, and luhrman and his co-writer (whose name currently escapes me...craig someone?) made the right choice here.

i'm quite a fan of leonardo dicaprio when he chooses the right roles, too, and here he's perfect. danes is absolutely angelic as juliet, and i honestly couldn't imagine anyone else in this role in *this* film. costumes must be noted too - romeo's "prince" ensemble, and juliet's wings (she's an angel) are perfect.

i'm always a big fan of john leguiziamo too, and it's good to see his usual flair being brought to a role that is actually a little different than normal. in all, i really thought this film was amazing. the script and editing are amazingly tight (all the important lines are here/the movie bumps along at the perfect speed, with the just-right moments of languidity when necessary), and i don't think the r & j relationship has ever been captured with such pure emotion than by dicaprio and danes.

and i am absolutely, totally, can't-ever-go-back, head-over-heels in love with claire danes too. omg. words cannot describe.

 

[Negative]

I thought it was kind of funny how this movie replaces the alcohol that Romeo imbibes before crashing the Capulet party with ecstacy.

 

[onetwothreefour]

^^^ yes!! and the whole "i draw my sword" (with the "sword" being a gun called "sword") is classic

 

[onetwothreefour]

(oh, and one last thing: the music is amazing throughout...)

 

[Jabberwocky]

i loved the soundtrack for this. The radio head song talk show host! damn i love it. I enjoyed the cinematography of the movie and the way the music was very intertwined in the whole play. I dont know i felt as far as remakes go this one was top notch. I dont like leonardo decrapio but he was a good choice for this movie.

-phil-

 

[DigitalDuality]

Frankly .. i love this and Moulin Rouge quite a bit

 

[lost_boi]

YES....wicked soundtrack.
i still pull this movie out of the closet once every few months. i just love everything about this movie.

 

[AmorRoark]

i loved the soundtrack for this. The radio head song talk show host! damn i love it. I enjoyed the cinematography of the movie and the way the music was very intertwined in the whole play. I dont know i felt as far as remakes go this one was top notch. I dont like leonardo decrapio but he was a good choice for this movie.

-phil-

Word... I saw Radiohead perform Talk Show Host last summer it was amazing since it's one of my favorite Radiohead.. hell one of my favorite songs period.

This was my favorite movie for years and years... deffinetly very underrated.

 

[skywise]

I like Baz Lurhman quite a bit. He has a pretty distinct, refreshing style that I think kicks ass. This is my favorite movie of his and I'll also admit to being a bit in love with claire danes because of this movie.

And I saw talk show host preformed live in STL too. It rocks.

 

[Raving Loony]

I thought Di Caprio found the going too much tough when it came to getting his tougue around his hasten romantic lines. I'm sure that there would have been cueing up to play that part who could have done a much better job.

I'lll give it four stars (minus) though, because I loved this film immensely.

 

[AmorRoark]

I like Baz Lurhman quite a bit. He has a pretty distinct, refreshing style that I think kicks ass. This is my favorite movie of his and I'll also admit to being a bit in love with claire danes because of this movie.

And I saw talk show host preformed live in STL too. It rocks.

oh man I don't know if we can share Claire.

 

[DemonsFall]

Despite not being a big fan of Shakespeare, I thought that this film was very well done. The first time I saw it, I didn't really appreciate it, but the last time I watched it a few months ago I actually liked it. I'm not particularly fond of old English, but I did like seeing how they modernized this while keeping the dialogue the same, though listening to it does annoy the hell out of me more often than not. The cinematography is excellent here, and there were a few good performances. The guy who plays Mercutio does a particularly good job I think.

 

[hashish2020]

I thought Di Caprio found the going too much tough when it came to getting his tougue around his hasten romantic lines. I'm sure that there would have been cueing up to play that part who could have done a much better job.

I'lll give it four stars (minus) though, because I loved this film immensely.

I don't...he's a really good actor---see the basketball diaries

 

[hashish2020]

Despite not being a big fan of Shakespeare, I thought that this film was very well done. The first time I saw it, I didn't really appreciate it, but the last time I watched it a few months ago I actually liked it. I'm not particularly fond of old English, but I did like seeing how they modernized this while keeping the dialogue the same, though listening to it does annoy the hell out of me more often than not. The cinematography is excellent here, and there were a few good performances. The guy who plays Mercutio does a particularly good job I think.

Why no love for poor Billy?

 

[Raving Loony]

I don't...he's a really good actor---see the basketball diaries

Excelling as a foul mouthed street basketballer is one thing, acting in a lead romantic shakespeare role is another. Perhaps I could have been more specific, but I don't think he was suited to it.

 

[DemonsFall]

"Why no love for poor Billy?"

Not that he's a bad writer or anything, I appreciate his skill and he certainly had a lot of talent, but I've always felt that he's rather over rated. Also, I'm just not a fan of his diction or writing structure, particularly in his plays. All in all, I actually like a lot of the stories he wrote, just not the way he wrote them. He creates excellent characters and interesting plots I think, but his writing style just isn't for me.

This is all based on my limited exposure to his writing though. I can't say I've really read all that much of his writing, and when I did, it was always for some assignment. Maybe if I read more, I might think differently.

 

[Belisarius]

I've only seen this film once, but I loved it. It's bizarre, but revels in its own bizarreness, if that's makes any sense. It has a strange sense of style and pizazz that you don't see in many movies outside of Tarentino's work. This is all the more strange, because I think "Romeo and Juliet" is the most overrated Shakespearean play.

 

[L2R]

I really enjoy all of the red curtain trilogy.

Even as a Shakespeare non-appreciator.

But I much prefer Titus.