Romeo and Juliet Film Review

Joey Wright

The movie version of  Romeo and Juliet, directed by Baz Lurhmann was very interesting. I was very interested in some of the descisions that he made to direct the film. I found it very interesting that he made the play in a modern setting but kept the language all the same. I felt like if the movie is going to be in Shakespearian language, that it should also be in a setting that fits the time period. The weapons were guns instead of swords, and the clothes were very modern. Plus, there were very modern cars and the chorus in the play, was represented by the news station that was reporting the tragedy. Baz Lurhmann really changed the play a lot and tried to mix modern day with old-fashioned day. I felt like it was effective in some areas and ineffective in other areas. For instance, I felt like the fight scenes were helpful to be in a modern setting but I really did not like that the news channel was representing the chorus. Also, I wish that he would have translated the actual Romeo and Juliet script to modern language because it would have been very easy to understand. It seemed that the old-fashioned language was out of place for the setting. Almost everything else was modernized so it didn't really make sense for the actors to speak in an old-fashioned language in a modern setting. I also was confused about Mercutio's character. It seemed like the portrayed Mercutio to be a wild and crazy person whereas in the book, I felt like Mercutio was a little bit more controlled. One example of this is when Mercutio was dressed up as a woman and was acting extremely crazy. I did not understand what Baz Lurhmann was getting at here. I also felt like Benvolio did not have as much of an influence of Romeo in the film as what he has in the play. It seemed like Benvolio was distant to Romeo for most of the movie. In the book Benvolio is always with Romeo and trying to influence him. Another decision that I did not fully agree with is when Romeo and Juliet both died. In the book, it clearly states that Juliet was still asleep when Romeo drank the poison and was already dead. I did not like what Baz Lurhmann did with this part. He showed Juliet waking up even before Romeo drank the poison. But, because Romeo was being too self centered in his feelings, that he did not notice  that Juliet was awake. I was very upset about this because they should have made especially in this scene. They were both awake at the same time. I was very upset that this happened. This strayed way far away from the book. When I was watching this scene, I was expecting for the same ending as the book but instead they are shown both awake at the same time. It honestly made me hate Romeo because of how dumb he was. At least in the book, he does not know that Juliet will wake up and that it is evident that she is still asleep. They should have stuck to this ending. I still do not understand why Baz Lurhmann did this. I guess he was trying to make it more dramatic, but it only made Romeo look bad. I really did not like this scene. All in all, the film was okay and it was fairly entertaining for the most part.