Romeo + Juliet

Published 2024-04-21

Film info

Title Romeo + Juliet
Director Baz Luhrmann
Year 1996
Run time 2hr 0m
Genres Romance, Drama
Tagline My only love sprung from my only hate
Cast Leonardo DiCaprio, Miriam Margolyes, Paul Rudd

Oscar-nominated and BAFTA-winning version of Shakespeare's tale of a doomed love affair. Updated in setting to Verona Beach, where the gangs of the corporate dynasties, the Capulets and Montagues, battle with guns as much as knives.

Live blog

Time	Comment
1:07	Shakespeare + newsreader voice = slightly better understanding.
6:57	Love that in the middle of a gunfight, she's getting stuck in with a handbag.
13:21	It really is just a jumble of words.
15:05	"Teach me how I should forget to think."
25:44	Ah, Kissing You is such a great song.
27:54	Paul Rudd, eligible bachelor, astronaut costume. I’m in.
36:44	If you meet someone for two minutes at a party then immediately break into their house and climb up the walls… it’s creepy.
45:53	I never really liked this Father character.
1:00:19	There’s some really good tension here, it would just be better if we knew why.
1:04:12	“Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man.”
1:13:12	Curious how banishment would work in a modern world.
1:16:53	Leo spends a significant amount of this film dripping.
1:25:50	The answer is surely ‘too late suckers, already married.’
1:36:59	Can’t fault the setting of these scenes.
1:52:42	“All are punished.” So depressing.

Thoughts

I've seen this before and remember liking it, particularly the music. I've a love/hate relationship with Baz Luhrmann's film-making but this one is on the good side. The scenery and the visual storytelling is perfect. The only real problem with it is the text. I just can't with Shakespeare and that makes this a bit of a non-starter from that point of view. It's probably the most accessible the bard has ever been to me but it's still not what I'm after.

Rating: 2 / 5