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:

From Age to Age One Classic Story is as Timeless as Love Itself

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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 Australia

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:

$151,841,661

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bazmark Films, Estudios Churubusco Azteca S.A., 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

The highest-grossing live-action William Shakespeare adaptation.

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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

Referenced in The Question Jury: Episode #1.9 (2016)

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Soundtracks

KTTV News Theme
Written by Gary S. Scott

User Reviews

Sex, Violence and bad jokes (every thing that makes Shakespeare good)

Here are some facts to think about,

All plays and movies are interpretations. Imagine "The Matrix" with Wil Smith as Neo and Val Kilmer as Morpheaus (don't laugh, it nearly happened). Even the Bard was interpreting a place he himself had never been to.

Shakespeare was such a great writer his work can be taken and changed and reworked and reinterpreted in so many ways, yet his writing remains good and true. No other play write stands for such treatment and reinterpreting Shakespeare is the greatest honor that can ever be done to his work.

Shakespeare is always cut and edited. There are many alternative versions of Shakespeare's plays, but we only see one version because for a long time British scholars refused to publish alternative versions (the bastards) and kept them from the public.

This version is loved by so many people, it does everything to try make the characters real to us to our now and true to the Elizabethen theatrical tradition.

Sometimes it fails. The first 20 minutes are generally disliked by audiences, but then the point was to make audience know in no uncertain terms this is not classical Shakespeare. But I think they were trying to hard at the start.

The interpretation of the balcony scene in interesting but it leaves out some of my favourite lines from Romea and Juliet.

The dedication of the actors to the project is fantastic. some reviewers see the the actors as trying to get through their lines as quickly as possible, but when you consider Leonardo Di Caprio when to Australia (flying Coach) to make a video version of the movie to convince studio execs to finance the project.

The scene that makes the movie, the scene everyone remember is Romeo dressed as knight, falling in love through a fish tank with Juliet dressed as angel. One of the most beautiful love scenes every filmed, with no dialog (hence no Shakespearean help).

One of the most interesting films ever. Not perfect, but captures everything I love about Shakespeare. That is blood, sex, violence, bad jokes and so on.

One last point. In Shakespeare's time people filled the time of the play with dialog. The dialog can be cut and many ideas told with language of cinema. If you are a purist you wouldn't like real Shakespeare anyway.