Romeo + Juliet

Romeo + Juliet
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Baz Luhrmann
Produced by	Baz Luhrmann Gabriella Martinelli
Written by	Play: William Shakespeare Screenplay: Craig Pearce Baz Luhrmann
Starring	Leonardo DiCaprio Claire Danes John Leguizamo Harold Perrineau Pete Postlethwaite Brian Dennehy Christina Pickles Paul Sorvino Diane Venora Paul Rudd Vondie Curtis-Hall Miriam Margolyes Jamie Kennedy Mario Cimarro
Music by	Nellee Hooper (Composer) Craig Armstrong (Composer (Orchestrator) (Conductor) Marius De Vries (Composer)
Cinematography	Donald McAlpine
Editing by	Jill Bilcock
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	November 1, 1996
Running time	120 min.
Country	United States Australia
Language	English
Budget	$14.5 million (estimated)
Gross revenue	$147,554,999

William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet is a 1996 American/Australian film adaptation of William Shakespeare's romantic tragedy of the same name. It was directed by Australian Baz Luhrmann and stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes in the eponymous roles.

The film is an abridged modernization of Shakespeare's play, designed to appeal to a younger modern audience while retaining the original Shakespearean dialogue. The warring families (the Montagues and the Capulets) are represented as warring business empires and swords are replaced by guns.

Overview

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The film takes place in the fictional city called "Verona Beach". A brief part of the film takes place in a location known as Mantua, which is depicted as a trailer park in a desert-like hinterland. Verona Beach is the center of a corporate war between two leaders of industry, "Montague" and "Capulet", rather than just a family feud.

In addition to the characters being updated from the original play, many of the props were replaced with analogous contemporary props. In place of swords, the characters use guns with fictional brand names like "Sword 9mm", "Dagger", or "Rapier", Lord Montague's "Longsword" is a South African MAG-7 shotgun.

Cast

• Leonardo DiCaprio as Romeo Montague
• Claire Danes as Juliet Capulet
• John Leguizamo as Tybalt Capulet
• Harold Perrineau as Mercutio
• Pete Postlethwaite as Father Laurence
• Brian Dennehy and Christina Pickles as Ted and Caroline Montague
• Paul Sorvino and Diane Venora as Fulgencio and Gloria Capulet
• Paul Rudd as Dave Paris
• Vondie Curtis-Hall as Chief Prince
• Miriam Margolyes as The Nurse
• Jesse Bradford as Balthasar
• Dash Mihok as Benvolio
• Zak Orth as Gregory
• Jamie Kennedy as Sampson
• M. Emmet Walsh as Apothecary
• Vincent Laresca as Abrag

Leonardo DiCaprio was Luhrmann's first choice to play Romeo, while the casting of Juliet was a lengthy process. Sarah Michelle Gellar was originally offered the role of Juliet, but had to turn it down due to scheduling conflicts. Natalie Portman eventually landed the role, even traveling to Sydney for rehearsals. After rehearsing a few scenes, the producers began to feel that she was too young for the role. According to Portman, they felt that the footage looked like DiCaprio was "molesting" her.^[1] Eventually, Luhrmann agreed that the age difference between the two actors was too great. Filming was halted to find another actress for the part. Jennifer Love Hewitt was almost cast, but lost the part to Claire Danes because Luhrmann felt that she wasn't "modern" enough for the part.

Reception

Financially, the film was very successful, grossing USD$147 million worldwide at the box office^[2] on a USD$14.5 million budget. The film premiered November 1, 1996 in the United States and Canada in 1,276 theaters and grossed $11.1 million its opening weekend, ranking #1 at the box office. It went on to gross $46.3 million in the United States and Canada.^[3]

Critics gave the film generally positive reviews. According to the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 74% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 38 reviews.^[4] However, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times disliked the film, giving it 2 stars and saying, "This production was a very bad idea ... I have never seen anything remotely approaching the mess that the new punk version of Romeo & Juliet makes of Shakespeare's tragedy." Ebert wrote that Pete Postlethwaite and Miriam Margolyes were "the only actors in the film who seem completely at home" and said, "In one grand but doomed gesture, writer-director Baz Luhrmann has made a film that (a) will dismay any lover of Shakespeare, and (b) bore anyone lured into the theater by promise of gang wars, MTV-style."^[5]

Leonardo DiCaprio won Favorite Actor and Claire Danes won Favorite Actress in a Romance at the 1997 Blockbuster Entertainment Awards.^[6] At the 1997 MTV Movie Awards, Danes won Best Female Performance. DiCaprio was nominated for Best Male Performance, and DiCaprio and Danes were both nominated for Best Kiss and Best On-Screen Duo.^[6] At the 51st BAFTA Film Awards, Baz Luhrmann won the award for Best Direction. Luhrmann and Craig Pearce won the award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Nellee Hooper won the award for Best Film Music. And Catherine Martin won the award for Best Production Design. The film was also nominated for Best Cinematography, Best Editing, and Best Sound.^[6]

The film won several awards.^[6] At the Berlin International Film Festival in 1997, Leonardo DiCaprio won the Silver Bear Award for Best Actor and director Baz Luhrmann won the Alfred Bauer Award. Luhrmann was also nominated for the Golden Bear Award for Best Picture.^[6] At the 69th Academy Awards, Catherine Martin and Brigitte Broch were nominated for Best Art Direction/Set Decoration.^[6]

Soundtrack

Romeo + Juliet
Soundtrack by various artists
Released	Oct 29, 1996
Genre	Soundtracks
Label	Capitol
Producer	Garbage, Nellee Hooper, Marius De Vries, Justin Warfield, Des'ree.
Professional reviews
Allmusic link

Track listing

1. "#1 Crush" - Garbage
2. "Local God" - Everclear
3. "Angel" - Gavin Friday
4. "Pretty Piece of Flesh" - One Inch Punch
5. "Kissing You (Love Theme From Romeo & Juliet)" - Des'ree
6. "Whatever (I Had a Dream)" - Butthole Surfers
7. "Lovefool" - The Cardigans
8. "Young Hearts Run Free" - Kym Mazelle
9. "Everybody's Free (To Feel Good)" - Quindon Tarver
10. "To You I Bestow" - Mundy
11. "Talk Show Host" - Radiohead
12. "Little Star" - Stina Nordenstam
13. "You and Me Song" - The Wannadies

Home media

• VHS
• DVD (1999)
• DVD Special edition (2002), includes commentaries by director, producer, cinematographer; Behind the Scenes, interviews, music video
• DVD The Music edition (2007), includes commentaries by director and film score composers plus five music featurettes

Further reading

• Lehmann, Courtney. "Strictly Shakespeare? Dead Letters, Ghostly Fathers, and the Cultural Pathology of Authorship in Baz Luhrmann's 'William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet'." Shakespeare Quarterly. 52.2 (Summer 2001) pp. 189–221.

References

External links

• Official site at the Internet Archive
• Romeo + Juliet at the Internet Movie Database
• Romeo + Juliet at Allmovie
• Romeo + Juliet at Box Office Mojo
• Romeo + Juliet at Rotten Tomatoes

v • d • e William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet Characters Romeo • Juliet • Mercutio • Tybalt • Benvolio • Friar Lawrence • Nurse • Paris • Prince Escalus • Lord Capulet • Rosaline • Full Character List Sources The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet • Pyramus and Thisbe • Palace of Pleasure • Troilus and Criseyde • Ephisaica Musical adaptations West Side Story (musical) • Roméo et Juliette (musical) • Giulietta e Romeo (musical) • Roméo et Juliette (opera) • Romeo und Julie (singspiel) • I Capuleti e i Montecchi (opera) • Romeo and Juliet (ballet) • Roméo et Juliette (Berlioz) • Romeo and Juliet (overture) On screen Romeo and Juliet (1900) • Romeo and Juliet (1908) • Romeo and Juliet (1916) • Romeo and Juliet (1936) • Romeo and Juliet (1954) • Romeo i Dzhulyetta (1955) • Romeo and Juliet (1968) • Romeo and Juliet (1978) • The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet (1982) • Romeo and Juliet (1992) • Romeo + Juliet (1996) Adaptions Beneath the 12-Mile Reef (1953) • Romanoff and Juliet (1960) • West Side Story (1961) • Romie-0 and Julie-8 (1979) • The Sea Prince and the Fire Child (1981) • Tromeo and Juliet (1996) • Love Is All There Is (1996) • Shakespeare in Love (1998) • Romeo Must Die (2000) • حبك نار Hobak Nar (2004) • Pizza My Heart (2005) • West Bank Story (2005) • Romeo & Juliet: Sealed with a Kiss (2006) • Romeo x Juliet (2007) • Saints & Sinners (2007 TV series)  • Romeo Loves Juliet (Philippine TV series)