Romeo + Juliet

1996

PG-13

2h 0m

IMDb RATING

6.8/10

5.2K

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Drama

Romance

In director Baz Luhrmann's contemporary take on William Shakespeare's classic tragedy, the Montagues and Capulets have moved their ongoing feud to the sweltering suburb of Verona Beach, where Romeo and Juliet fall in love and secretly wed. Though the film is visually modern, the bard's dialogue remains.

Directors

Baz Luhrmann

Writers

Baz Luhrmann(screenplay by)

William Shakespeare(author by)

Craig Pearce(screenplay by)

Stars

Leonardo DiCaprio

Claire Danes

Jesse Bradford

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Videos2

Trailer
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Featurette
Watch Why Leonardo DiCaprio was the perfect Romeo | A Life In Pictures | BAFTA

Photos101

Top cast

Romeo

Juliet

Balthasar

Captain Prince

Ted Montague

Tybalt

Nurse

Mercutio

Caroline Montague

Father Laurence

Dave Paris

Fulgencio Capulet

Gloria Capulet

Apothecary

Anchorwoman

Gregory

Sampson

Benvolio

Directors

Baz Luhrmann

Writers

Baz Luhrmann(screenplay by)

William Shakespeare(author by)

Craig Pearce(screenplay by)

All cast & crew

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User reviews3

Review

Featured review

7/10

Baz Luhrmann has relocated this classic to modern day Verona Beach and introduced a contemporary sound track to complement much of the original dialogue from the bard's story of true love, revenge and, quite possibly, the greatest tragedy ever written in the English language. The families "Montague" and "Capulet" have been feuding since God was a boy. The uneasy truce between them is to be severely tested when "Romeo" (Leonardo DiCaprio) and "Juliet" (Clare Danes) fall in love. Being from each of these warring tribes, they must keep their love clandestine in order to avoid conflict. As their affection grows, that secret proves harder and harder to keep - especially as "Juliet" has been betrothed and her father is determined that she shall be in the church on Tuesday next! I'm sure you all know the story of the "star-crossed lovers" and I rather enjoyed this adaptation. Unlike "Carmen Jones" (1954) which I did not think worked well being relocated, this does. The eclectic contrast between the motor cars, the revolvers and the original old English text is quite effective. The effort from DiCaprio gets better as the film progresses and by the denouement neither he nor Danes are half bad. Harold Perrineau is also competent as the brave "Mercutio" and the conniving "Tybalt" is well covered by John Leguizamo. Purists may well not admire the abridging of this lengthy story though. It is quite heavily condensed and at times that does rob the film of much of the original nuance - not that Luhrmann ever really concentrates on nuance anyway - but I'd rather look on this as an evolution of the story for modern times rather than a straight retelling. For me it worked, and is watchable still.

Geronimo196718 Jun, 2023