MovieChat Forums > Romeo + Juliet (1996) Discussion > So for everyone who didn't 'get' it...

So for everyone who didn't 'get' it...

posted 11 years ago by mikey1969
11 replies | jump to latest

The whole 'Middle English in a modern setting' thing was not done to make you think that people in Florida somehow talked like it was 500 years ago. The whole thing was set up to create a completely different reality, with slightly different cars, guns, etc. It's not supposed to have a direct analogue to anything we know now, because it ISN'T 'now'

Shakespeare's stuff has been doe a million times in period clothing and on period sets. It's been done a million times with new titles and completely set in the world of today('10 Thing I Hate About You ring any bells?). It has never been done where the new meets the old and everything is mixed. Since it is more or less an alternate reality, then this works.

Of course, if you didn't figure this out on your own, I've probably totally wasted my time here, but I got this the first time around and figured I'd try and help out...

[–] Listerlnx 11 years ago

If they didn't talk like that then it would have been good. Just saying. Don't get me wrong I love that way of speaking when it actually fits.

[–] Noufa 11 years ago

Richard III played out the original text in an alternate reality timeline:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114279

And it came out a year before this movie.

[–] Falconeer 11 years ago

Yes I just saw it recently, for the first time; I was impressed at how experimental and unique it was. It seems like something that would be produced now, and not in the 90's. It was ahead of it's time somehow. The reason i even looked for this film was because I liked "The Great Gatsby" and noticed they have the same director. The two films are very similar; especially in the way that they play with time. Mixing up different periods in history with totally modern music and imagery must not be easy to achieve succesfully, but both of these films do it nicely..

"IMdB; where 14 year olds can act like jaded 40 year old critics...'

[–] starryeyedgirl1 11 years ago

The first time I watched it, I thought it was weird.

NOW, I love it. Back then, it was modern, now, it's so 90s and I love nostalgia.

This love will be your downfall

[–] SpiltPersonality 10 years ago

Interesting take. I always thought that it was a kind of 'gang language'.

I can imagine gang bangers referring to their pistols as 'swords' and their money as 'gold'. I got the impression that Montague and Capulet (in this movie) were drug lords.

I don't think either your or my interpretation is right or wrong, just a different view... which is the beauty of this version.

I absolutely love it. By far my favourite 'screen' Shakespear

[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] duckie_bb 10 years ago

I love that the dialogue of Romeo and Juliet was hardly changed and the play was set in a modern setting, as was advertised.
I can’t believe anyone could think this adaption is bad - it’s so good I doubt I’d appreciate any other. Baz Luhrmann had the actors dress and move reflecting their personalities, the actor playing Tybalt learnt the tango to move accordingly for fight scenes. There are billboards, advertisements, magazines littered through the movie with quotes from other Shakespeare plays such as ‘Shoot forth thunder’ on a gun advertisement from ’The Second Part of King Henry the Sixth’. It's a brilliant adaption and directors are free to present films how they envision them, they don't have to produce the same play with only different actors, film makers show different takes on remakes all the time.

[–] VisualAssault 9 years ago

I too prefer this to any other Romeo & Juliet adaptation. It's dynamic, bold, insanely brash yet sweetly romantic. It's the best of both worlds really. Just because the play was written long ago doesn't mean it should be any less modern than today. Another thing I love about this film is how youthful it is. Romeo and Juliet were very young thus the best setting you can give their story should be equally young. This one is exactly that. Love it, even more so now that it's a twenty year old film.

[–] natalichka 9 years ago

i guess it is true some people may be confused..
a good clarification for those who are/were.. to the o.p. ^_^
::::
anyway.. i would like to say how much i adore this film.. in every way.
having studied shakespeare specifically.. makes it very clear for me to understand.. of course..
but we all should know the story.. at least from high school.. or just generally culturally speaking.
i find the artistic and avant-garde elements mixed within the modern style director baz lurhmann has cleaverly created are nothing short of greatness.
baz's version in film is amazing.. mixing so brightly time and style with old and new. simply genius.
it is a brilliant talent that baz does indeed have.. both in his vision and direction of it.
his version of 'the great gatsby' is clearly a notable and more recent work which similarly also takes style and time periods and intersects them.. {i believe someone else referenced this similarly above}..
this talent is no doubt a difficult thing to achieve and master with such a brilliant outcome on all artistic levels as one piece.
::::
this film is absolutely excellent.. and i sure do have 90s nostalgia about it..
so.. i do hope everyone can understand what a masterpiece it truly is.
shakespeare is always wonderful.. and i believe this interpretation should be viewed as the wondrous piece of art that it is.
i shall now be searching for my dvd of it to promptly watch! ^_^

:::: love and peace ::::