William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet April 12, 2007
Posted by Shujath in English, Movies, Reviews.trackback
I wasn’t sure if I would watch this one but given the good things I had heard about this Baz Luhrmann adaptation of Shakespeare’s evergreen play, I decided to give it a try. The first five minutes give you a fair idea of how the rest of the film is going to be. All characters seem to have walked straight off the sets of a Robert Rodriguez movie. Combined with snazzy visuals and a pumped up score the stage is set for a dazzling rehash of this tragic love story.
For those of who don’t know the story, it is about two lovebirds Romeo Montague (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Juliet Capulet (Claire Danes) who happen to belong to families which are constantly at war with each other. Circumstances finally lead to a situation where Juliet has to marry someone else. To escape this she consumes a potion which renders her unconscious for a certain period of time while others assume that she is dead. This plan however fails to reach Romeo’s ears and he, like all others believes that she is dead. The inevitable tragedy follows.
Inspite of all this, I couldn’t really enjoy the movie as thoroughly as I had expected because of the dialogue which is completely in the original Shakespearian dialect…most of it was going over my head. I guess this was done to make the film look even more cool but atleast for me it backfired. This film brought instant stardom to Leo but coming to the performances it was Claire Danes as Juliet who stole the show effortlessly. She never has looked so good in any of her later ventures. The supporting roles comprising of “The Montague Boys” and “The Capulet Boys” are also well played by the respective actors.
Luhrmann established a style of his own with those striking color schemes and visual styles. His next movie Moulin Rouge followed the tradition and ended up with 7 Oscar nominations. There are also a few inspirations from this movie in Mahesh Babu’s dud “Bobby”. Go and watch Romeo + Juliet….you might expect a routine love story given the title but this will definitely surprise you.
” WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’s Romeo and Juliet”–something in my opinion it certainly was not. The problem with the marriage of Shakespeare and film, is that the decision-making on style and interpretation is usually left up to the “concept” people (ie. marketers) and also the popular notion that Method Acting is the ONLY way to approach the craft. Brian Dennehey–a really fine actor–mumbling Shakespeare’s words in an attempt to make them ‘natural’ every-day speech, is a perfect example. He looked ridiculous most of the time. The words simply don’t match the technique (if it can be called a technique at all, which is really what’s needed first in the case of any rendering of Shakespeare the Dramatist.) Perhaps that’s why the language was such a barrier for you. Certainly no one expects to get all of what’s being said, but there are ways to make it more accessible other than great cinematics, teenybop idols, and special F/X. First, it takes a certain amount of Energy–something to which the “I’m an everyday mumbler-just a nat’l sorta guy” method doesn’t lend itself. You’re right about Danes–she stole the show–at least among the ranks of the smouldering inner source set. DiCaprio is…well, DiCaprio. He had his moments, but for such a large role, they were precious few. The real standout, for me, was Leguizamo–quite possibly, his technique as a comedian brought him out character-wise, in a way the rest of the actors didn’t achieve. He actually Assumed a 3 dimensional character and gave us something to watch other than himself “emoting”; everyone else being more concerned with being themselves and “making it Real”. You cannot find such large examples of life solely from within–an actor must look Outside with Shakespeare. Larger than life characters and situations simply don’t scan well under a microscope, and trying to Make them do so, by becoming microscopic in the approach, is futile. One thing I am appreciative of–I understand that because of DiCaprio, it’s become a sort of ‘cult’ thing. Although I deplore the fact that the cult participants might actually view this as “William Shakespeare’s” Romeo and Juliet, I’m also grateful that it’s there, at least, for those that quite possibly wouldn’t have known or cared about its existence in the first place.