Romeo + Juliet

This article is about the film. For Peter Martins' 2007 ballet, see Romeo + Juliet (ballet). For other uses, see Romeo and Juliet (disambiguation).

Romeo + Juliet
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Baz Luhrmann
Written by	Play: William Shakespeare Screenplay: Craig Pearce Baz Luhrmann
Produced by	Baz Luhrmann Gabriella Martinelli
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
Cinematography	Donald McAlpine
Edited by	Jill Bilcock
Music by	Nellee Hooper (Composer) Craig Armstrong (Composer (Orchestrator) (Conductor) Marius De Vries (Composer)
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date	November 1, 1996
Running time	120 minutes
Countries	United States Australia
Language	English
Budget	$14,500,000
Box office	$147,554,999

William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet is a 1996 American 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 titular 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

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. The film depicts the two families in an extremely modernized way compared to the original Shakespearean version.

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. However, the director incorporated some of the symbols from the original Shakespearean work into the film. These include many references to Catholicism. For example, Juliet gives Romeo a necklace with a cross pendant in the balcony scene, and she is also found praying in her room for Romeo's safety.

Plot

In modern times, in the city of Verona Beach, the Capulets and the Montagues are two rival business powers. The animosity of the older generation - Fulgencio (Paul Sorvino) and Gloria Capulet (Diane Venora) and Ted (Brian Dennehy) and Caroline Montague (Christina Pickles) - is also felt by their younger relatives. While stopping for gas, the Montague boys - led by Benvolio (Dash Mihok), Romeo's cousin - come face to face with the Capulet boys - led by Tybalt (John Leguizamo), Juliet's cousin. The two gangs quickly strike up an argument, which escalates into a gun fight between Benvolio and Tybalt, who set fire to the petrol station and create chaos in the city. The Chief of Police, Captain Prince (Vondie Curtis-Hall), forces them to lay down their weapons. Captain Prince reprimands the boys, as well as Fulgencio and Ted, blaming them for three street brawls. He warns them that if such behavior continues, their lives "shall pay the forfeit of peace."

Later on, Caroline expresses her worry over Romeo (Leonardo DiCaprio), who has been depressed. Benvolio agrees to talk to his cousin and determine what is bothering him. Romeo admits he is in love, but that the object of his affection, Rosaline, does not love him. Meanwhile, Dave Paris (Paul Rudd), son of the Governor and nominated 'Bachelor of the Year', meets with Fulgencio. Paris has his heart set on marrying Fulgencio's beautiful daughter Juliet (Claire Danes), but the Capulet patriarch thinks she is too young. Nevertheless, he invites Paris to a fancy dress party he is hosting that night. At the Capulet mansion, as she prepares herself for the party, Gloria tries to convince Juliet to accept Paris' marriage proposal, citing his many attributes, but she is not swayed.

That night, at Sycamore Grove, the Montague boys and Romeo (dressed as a knight) meet up with their friend Mercutio (Harold Perrineau), who has gotten them each a ticket to the Capulet party. Mercutio tries to convince Romeo to cheer up and come to the party (which Rosaline will also be attending), but his love-sick friend declines. Romeo tries to tell him of a dream he has had, but Mercutio makes fun of him. Romeo, although he has a bad feeling about the night ahead, takes a pill Mercutio gives him, and they all proceed to the Capulet mansion. However, the effects of the drug and the wild party overwhelm Romeo, who goes into the restroom to wash his face. There, while admiring the fish tank, he spots Juliet on the other side, dressed as an angel.

Unfortunately, before they can speak, Juliet's nurse (Miriam Margolyes) whisks her off to dance with Paris, who is dressed as an American astronaut. Romeo follows her and is spotted by Tybalt, who vows to kill him for invading his family's home, but Fulgencio stops him, afraid he will make a scene in front of his friends. When Tybalt says he will "not endure him", Mr. Capulet slaps Tybalt across the face and berates him. Romeo and Juliet sneak into an elevator and kiss, but are spotted by the nurse when the doors open. Once again her nurse drags Juliet away, revealing Romeo’s identity as a Montague at the same time Romeo realises Juliet is a Capulet. A stunned Romeo is pulled out of the party by Mercutio while Juliet watches from a balcony and Tybalt reiterates his vow to kill Romeo.

Romeo quickly escapes his friends and sneaks back to the mansion, hiding under Juliet’s balcony. Juliet emerges into the yard, not knowing he is there, proclaims her love for him, for the only thing that prevents them from being together is their names, and there is no meaning in a name. Entranced, Romeo sneaks up behind her, causing them both to fall into the pool. Juliet is horrified that he has risked death to return, but Romeo tells her if she loves him, he doesn’t care if he is caught, and the two kiss. Knowing her nurse is looking for her, Juliet tells him that if he truly loves her and wants to marry her, he must send word by the following day, and she will be his forever.

The next day, Romeo goes to visit Father Lawrence (Pete Postlethwaite), and tells him he wants to marry Juliet. The priest is at first concerned that Romeo’s love for Juliet will die as quickly as his love for Rosaline did, but quickly realizes that the marriage of a Capulet and a Montague would end the rivalry that is destroying the city, and agrees to marry the pair. Romeo passes the word onto Juliet’s nurse, and the star cross’d lovers are married that very afternoon, with the nurse and Romeo’s friend Balthasar (Jesse Bradford) as witnesses.

At the beach, Tybalt is looking for Romeo, but stumbles across Mercutio and the Montagues. Tybalt insults Mercutio and the two are about to draw their weapons when Romeo arrives. He can't fight Tybalt and refuses to do so, now the two are kin, and attempts to make peace, but Tybalt will not hear any of it, and begins to beat him up. Mercutio interferes and is about to kill Tybalt when Romeo stops him. However, Tybalt jumps up and stabs Mercutio with a shard of glass, killing him. A grief stricken Romeo chases after the fleeing Tybalt, causing him to flip his car. Alive for the moment, but injured, Tybalt drags himself out of the wreck. Romeo picks up Tybalt’s gun and shoots, killing him. Balthasar and Romeo quickly flee the scene as the police arrive.

Captain Prince learns what has happened, and banishes Romeo from the city on pain of death if he returns, since he had no legal authority to kill Tybalt. Romeo, hiding with Father Lawrence, claims to rather want to die than be banished. At the Capulet mansion, Juliet prays, horrified by what her beloved Romeo has done. However, when a guilt ridden Romeo climbs through her balcony, she kisses him, and the two make love. Meanwhile, Fulgencio decides that Juliet will marry Paris the next Thursday.

The next morning, Romeo awakens and prepares to leave, even as Juliet begs him to stay. He concedes, confessing he would rather be there than anywhere else. But at that moment, Juliet’s nurse interrupts, telling them Gloria is on her way to Juliet's room. Romeo climbs out the window and promises Juliet that he will see her again. Juliet learns from her mom that she has been promised to Paris on Thursday. She is shocked by what she has just heard. When she refuses, her father loses his temper and starts shouting at Juliet, pushing the nurse away and even punches his wife in the face. tells her that if she does not obey and marry Paris, she will be disowned and thrown onto the streets to starve and die. When she tearfully pleads for her mother to delay the wedding "for a month; a week", she coldly refuses and walks away, ignoring her. With nobody to comfort her, she turns to the Nurse. The Nurse, however, surprises Juliet by telling her that it would be in her best interest to marry Paris, and Juliet feels betrayed and sarcastically says, "Thou hast comforted me marvellous much". She excuses herself to "take confession" at Friar Lawrence's cell.

Under the guise of taking confession, wearing a mourning dress and cap, Juliet goes to see Friar Lawrence. Paris, who is also there, trying to charm her but she largely ignores him. He kisses her, promising to awaken her on Thursday morning to make her his wife forever, then walks away. This sets her off into a crazed rage. She implores the priest to help her, holding a gun to her own head and threatening to commit suicide. The priest proposes she fake death instead, so she will put in the Capulet vault, to awaken 24 hours later. Meanwhile, Romeo will be told of the plot, sneak into the vault, and, once reunited; the two would travel to Mantua to start a new life together. He then gives her the poison necessary to make her seem dead.

On Wednesday night, after saying goodbye and goodnight to her mother, Juliet takes the poison and immediately collapses. As the priest predicted, she is found in the morning, declared dead, and placed in the Capulet vault. Balthasar is horrified when he finds out Juliet is dead, and goes immediately to tell Romeo, who had not been home when the messenger arrived with the letter telling him of the plan, and so had not received it.

Despite his banishment, a traumatised Romeo returns to Verona, where he buys himself the most deadly poison available. Meanwhile, Father Lawrence discovers from Friar John that Romeo has no idea Juliet is still alive. As Romeo enters Verona, Captain Prince chases after him. He escapes into the church where Juliet lay. Lying beside her lifeless body, Romeo proclaims his love and kisses her. Juliet awakens just as Romeo drinks the potion. The two kiss again before Romeo dies. Distraught, Juliet picks up Romeo's Dagger (a style of handgun) and shoots herself in the head. The two lovers are discovered, dead, in each other's arms.

As the distraught Montagues and Capulets watch their children's bodies taken away, Captain Prince points out what their rivalry has done and declares "All are punish'd!"

Cast

• Leonardo DiCaprio as Romeo Montague
• Claire Danes as Juliet Capulet
• John Leguizamo as Tybalt Capulet
• Harold Perrineau as Mercutio
• Pete Postlethwaite as Father Lawrence
• Brian Dennehy as Ted Montague
• Christina Pickles as Caroline Montague
• Paul Sorvino as Fulgencio Capulet
• Diane Venora as 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 Abram

Leonardo DiCaprio was Luhrmann's first choice to play Romeo, while the casting of Juliet was a lengthy process. 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. 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 was not "modern" enough for the part.

Reception

Financially, the film was very successful, grossing USD$147,554,999 worldwide at the box office 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.

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. 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."

Leonardo DiCaprio won Favorite Actor and Claire Danes won Favorite Actress in a Romance at the 1997 Blockbuster Entertainment Awards. 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. 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.

The film won several awards. 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. At the 69th Academy Awards, Catherine Martin and Brigitte Broch were nominated for Best Art Direction/Set Decoration.

Soundtrack

Main article: Romeo + Juliet (soundtrack)

Untitled

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

A cover of Prince's "When Doves Cry" by Quindon Tarver was also in the film, but was not included in the original release of the soundtrack. It was later added to a re-released edition.

Home media

• VHS (1997)
• 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.

External links

• Template:Wayback
• Romeo + Juliet at IMDb
• Romeo + Juliet at AllMovie
• Romeo + Juliet at Box Office Mojo
• Romeo + Juliet at Rotten Tomatoes