Film Review of Romeo And Juliet

With a cast of stars, including Leonardo De Caprio (Titanic, The Beach, The Talented Mr Ripley) playing Romeo and Claire Danes (Polish Wedding, Stray Dogs) playing Juliet, the film was always sure to shine. The tears Romeo cries appear to come straight from the heart of De Caprio, this leaves you wanting to solve his problems and see that Romeo and his Juliet are together forever, which they of course are.

Baz Luhrmann was born in Australia but grew up in Northern New South Wales, he first began film productions in 1985 after attending the prestigious National Institute of Dramatic Arts in Sydney. The first well-known film that Luhrmann independently released was "Strictly Ballroom" (1992) surprisingly "Romeo and Juliet" was only the second major film he released, in 1996. This was followed by the enchanting and mesmerising "Moulin Rouge"(2000), which was an immediate hit, boasting one of the most astounding soundtracks ever made. The music in Luhrmann's films seems to revolve around a theme of amazing orchestral pieces building up to climaxes that make your hair stand on end. In both "Moulin Rouge" and "Romeo and Juliet", Luhrmann uses singers to give you goose bumps, that are superior to any previously heard.

Besides his ability to give you singing voices that will fill you with tears or joy, Luhrmann also achieves this with his perfectly selected sets. During one of the final scenes, in which Romeo finds Juliet, the family tomb is filled with candles, the dim light shed from these gives the perfect romantic yet tense atmosphere that the scene requires. Before the final tragedy occurs, Luhrmann draws you into the puppy love apparent in Juliet and Romeo, portraying them as 'Loves Young Dream'. This only makes it worse when you witness their dreams being shattered. The circumstances of their deaths were always going to be heart-wrenching, but Luhrmann breaks your heart, as Romeo gently walks through the dimly lit tomb to his 'dead' lovers side. Their last kiss is almost as traumatic as the deaths themselves, to see the fear and desperation in Juliet's (Clare Danes) eyes, knowing she's lost her first love.

It's at points like this, that you can see how talented Luhrmann is at raising the anticipation up to a level at which you actually need to know more. Throughout their (Romeo & Juliet's) final kiss, you find yourself praying Juliet wakes up, even though you already know she wont.

Even though this is the film's most tearful moment, the most spectacular scene is the confrontation at the petrol station, which gives you an idea of the rivalry and sheer hatred between the two families. The line "Peace, I hate the word, like I hate…. and all Montagues." Spoken by Tybalt, a Capulet, this shows how forbidden Romeo and Juliet's love would have been.

However, there are points at which the delivery of lines is somewhat impersonal, for example in some scenes involving Juliet and the nurse, its almost as if the characters don’t actually know what they're saying in modern English, and have purely learnt the lines without pursuing the issue further. Yet, with other characters, such as, Romeo and Mercutio, you actually feel that this is the language they normally use, the delivery of lines is in such a way that the actors appear to be deeply involved with their character.

MERCUTIO is such an effective Mercutio, he brings comedy to every moment, even when he is dying he would make the audience giggle, if they were not so emotionally torn by emotional pain at the same time.