Romeo & Juliet Movie Review

William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet

The stars of the movie were Romeo and Juliet played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes.  Set in picturesque Verona Beach, California the movie takes place in the 1990s. A romantic drama.  The film is based on the play, a tragedy by William Shakespeare written in the late 1500s.  The most prominent pieces of the play were Acts I, III and V.  The play takes place in Verona, Italy instead of Verona Beach California.      

The movie opens up with a brawl at a gas station that introduces some of the main characters as well as the family feud between the Capulets and the Montagues.  Next, there is a wild costume party at the Capulet mansion and literally all of Verona Beach is there.  Romeo and Juliet meet at the party and make plans to get married the following day.  The next day, Romeo and Juliet are wed by Father Lawerence and just hours after their marriage, Romeo is involved in a brawl that kills Tylbalt and Mercutio and is banished from Verona Beach.  To make it easy for Romeo to come rescue Juliet from a marriage to Paris, Juliet gets a potion that will make it appear as if she is dead.  Father Lawerence sends word to Romeo about the ruse.  

The costume party was very similar to the ball in the play.  Neither Romeo nor Juliet knew who the other was because of their costumes.  In the play they had masks, but in the movie Juliet was dressed as and angel and Romeo as a knight.  Romeo just saw Juliet as a bright, shining angel while Juliet saw Romeo as a handsome knight.  It wasn't until after the fact that they both figured out who the other was.

There were many differences between the film and the play.  The first, most obvious one is that the story took place in modern times, not in the 1500s.  The second most obvious one is that it took place in Verona Beach, California instead of Verona, Italy.  There are many specific times during the film where there are differences.  Towards the end of the film, Paris doesn't come and visit Juliet's grave and there is no pool on the Capulets' terrace where Romeo and Juliet make their plans in Act I. 

I thought that the film wasn't the greatest film ever, but it wasn't awful.  I prefer the film over the story though.  It's really nice to have visuals to go along with the Shakespearean because it makes it so much easier to understand.  Especially during the soliloquies because they were really heard to understand in the original text.