The balcony scene takes place in the Capulets’ swimming pool with a security guard always just missing it on his surveillance cameras. Even the few moments of tenderness between the lovers are not enough to give us a sense of respite from the high anxiety engendered everywhere else in the film. All the lines seem to be delivered in a screech, at maximum intensity. Adding Leontyne Price singing the Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde over the unhappy climax is one measure of the movie’s desperation.Īs is its playing everything at top volume. But everywhere, Luhrmann is more interested in making the play contemporary than he is in making it an emotionally satisfying, Shakespearean experience. Having Juliet (Claire Danes) wake up just before Romeo (Leonardo DiCaprio) drinks the poison and simply cutting Friar Lawrence (Pete Postlethwaite) out of it is an interesting notion and adds a certain poignancy to the often-seen final scene. It is remarkably clever, and even has some good dramatic ideas. Romeo and Juliet (William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet)īaz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet is a good example of Shakespeare killed by terminal hipness.
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