Review of Baz Luhrmann's 'Romeo and Juliet'

Baz Luhrmann recreating Romeo and Juliet was a spectacle to admire. Lurmann's interpretation took place on the streets of hood-day Verona. Using colored hairs, brash swear words, all-over-the-place costuming, it brings Romeo and Juliet to a modern audience- or at least tries to.

I think Shakespeare would have liked the idea for these version because of how it kept the main themes and ideas of the story and tried to build another world around it. But I think the execution of this wasn't up to it. Of being both Shakespearean and too modern wasn't a good fit, it constantly kept bringing us out of the story. Also, the costuming and music didn't work out too well as it was all over the place and confusing for the audience.

The main difference between Shakespeare and Lurhmann’s version is that the former uses beautiful poetry and sound effects to bring an interesting experience to the audience through sound, while the latter uses bright colors and beautiful surroundings to interest the audience. The stage play had fewer props and had limited spaces played out on an open field while the movie was huge and had many characters and truly put the person in the experience. The acting really put the people watching in the situation and convinced them of how much they believed in family honor and their anger and grief towards each other’s families. Also, like most movies, DiCaprio and his mistress had a beautiful connection which was told beautifully through dialogue.

I think Shakespeare would have liked Lurhmann’s version because ultimately it was controversial and controversy always makes money.