Romeo + Juliet (1996)

Shakespeare's famous play is updated to the hip modern suburb of Verona still retaining its original dialogue.

Director:

Baz Luhrmann

Writers:

William Shakespeare (play), Craig Pearce (screenplay)

Stars:

Leonardo DiCaprio, Claire Danes, John Leguizamo

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 15 wins & 27 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Leonardo DiCaprio	...	Romeo
Claire Danes	...	Juliet
John Leguizamo	...	Tybalt
Harold Perrineau	...	Mercutio
Pete Postlethwaite	...	Father Laurence
Paul Sorvino	...	Fulgencio Capulet
Brian Dennehy	...	Ted Montague
Paul Rudd	...	Dave Paris
Vondie Curtis-Hall	...	Captain Prince
Miriam Margolyes	...	The Nurse
Jesse Bradford	...	Balthasar
M. Emmet Walsh	...	Apothecary
Zak Orth	...	Gregory
Jamie Kennedy	...	Sampson
Dash Mihok	...	Benvolio

Storyline

The classic story of Romeo and Juliet, set in a modern-day city of Verona Beach. The Montagues and Capulets are two feuding families, whose children meet and fall in love. They have to hide their love from the world because they know that their parents will not allow them to be together. There are obstacles on the way, like Juliet's cousin, Tybalt, and Romeo's friend Mercutio, and many fights. But although it is set in modern times, it is still the same timeless story of the "star crossed lovers".

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Plot Keywords:

blood | cigarette smoking | mixed martial arts | stylized violence | pistol | 

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Taglines:

The greatest love story the world has ever known.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for scenes of contemporary violence and some sensuality

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA Mexico

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 November 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet

Filming Locations:

Alameda, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$14,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$11,133,231, 3 November 1996

Gross USA:

$46,351,345

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$147,554,998

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bazmark Films, Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

DTS (as dts) (DTS HD Master Audio 5.1) (5.1 Surround Sound) (5.1) Dolby Digital (as Dolby Digital) (Dolby Digital 5.1) (5.1 Surround Sound) (5.1) SDDS (as Sony Dynamic Digital Sound) (8 channels) (5.1 Surround Sound) (5.1) D-Cinema 48kHz 5.1 (D-Cinema prints) (5.1 Surround Sound) (5.1) Dolby Atmos (Dolby Atmos) (5.1 Surround Sound) (5.1)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Like most of William Shakespeare's work, the verse of Romeo and Juliet is written in iambic pentameter. Pete Postlethwaite, who plays Father Laurence, is the only actor in the movie who speaks using this meter.

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Goofs

When Juliet's mother is looking for her daughter and running through the foyer, part of her nipple is exposed but in the next shot it is gone. Then, after speaking to Juliet in the dressing room she turns around with a cigarette and there are distinct black smudges on her chest. When she leaves the room, these smudges are gone.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Anchorwoman: Two households, both alike in dignity, in fair Verona, where we lay our scene. From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. From forth the fatal loins of these two foes, a pair of star-crossed lovers take their life, whose misadventured piteous overthrows doth, with their death, bury their parents' strife. The fearful passage of their death-marked love and the continuance of their parents' rage, which, but their children's end, naught could ...

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Connections

Version of Romeo and Juliet (2014)

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Soundtracks

Local God
Performed by Everclear
Written by Art Alexakis and Everclear
Produced by A.P. Alexakis
Everclear appears courtesy of Capitol Records

User Reviews

Shakespeare made sexy for the teen generation.

Everyone is familiar with William Shakespeare's boy-meets-girl love story, and it has already been interpreted into films, plays, TV adaptations and songs. But Baz Luhrmann gives this world-known love story a modern-day twist, setting it in Verona Beach, and piling on the religious imagery. The result is quite spectacular.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes play the star-crossed lovers, and, whilst the latter is sadly a little bland, never truly convincing us in her portrayal of Juliet's loss of innocence or torment of feelings towards the foe, DiCaprio completely redeems her performance. He is a revelation. His Romeo is a wonderful mix of sad eloquence, a loving heart and a troubled soul, and all these elements come together beautifully in a performance hotter than a pepper sprout, with more layers than the proverbial onion. He is the very embodiment of sexy in his role. There is an extremely alluring way in which his character is filmed, which only enhances Romeo as a lover. This is epitomized in the opening shot of him, where the Leo is illuminated illustriously against the sunlight, and Radiohead's languid, sexy tune "Talk Show Host" plays.

The film itself has "sexy" written all over it, and, with the Gen X teenagers as his target audience, I don't think Luhrmann would have things any other way. But, unlike with that atrocity Moulin Rouge!, with Romeo + Juliet, the over-stylization is appropriate, making the movie more accessible to teens, for example, through gun warfare rather than swordplay, and the canny symbolisation of Queen Mab as a drug. But perhaps the most ingenious stylistic technique here is the slap-in-face Shakespearean references, which range from a ball called the Merchant of Venice, to 'Such stuff as dreams are made on' from The Tempest, making the film an absolute goldmine for trivia fans.

Style aside, there is more than enough substance. Romeo is presented exactly as the play does – at first, the mawkish, gawky, lovesick teenager, then, the fickle boy, and finally, the devoted and caring lover, and much of this loyalty to the play is due to the screenplay from Luhrmann and Craig Pearce, which maintains the original memorable dialogue and descriptions, but also dares to stray from the sidewalk in some of the plot turns, and the film completely benefits from it. The set designs are intricate and beautiful, and suit every frame of the film perfectly, and the icing on the cake is the music. Craig Armstrong's score for the swimming pool scene is as stunning as it is original, and the use of non-original music, from Kym Mazelle to The Cardigans, give the film the added edge of cool, making Romeo + Juliet one of the boldest, sassiest and most unforgettable adaptations to date, and English Lit. GCSE has been made far more digestible for us kids across England. It's what Shakespeare would have wanted. A-.