Directed by Baz Luhrmann

Baz Luhrmann is synonymous with bombast, and he delivers in Romeo + Juliet, his modern (in the 1990s) take on perhaps the most well-known play of all time.

This film has been controversial since its release, and for good reason. Through the eyes of Shakespeare purists, it’s an attack on tradition and decency. For the rest of us, it’s the welcome resuscitation of a high school assignment, born again for a new era of love story enthusiasts, romantics, and appreciators of the classics.

Luhrmann’s interpretation astonishes in large part because of its intricacy, which required the obsessive execution of every detail: The names and crests on the tattoos, guns, and license plates; the comprehensive transformation of Verona to Verona Beach, with costumes and sets responding accordingly; the colors, primary colors especially, sabotaging your eyes at every opportunity, with each one representing a major theme (red for anger and violence, blue for death and tragedy, white for purity); the introduction of new visual themes, like water — Romeo and Juliet first lock eyes through a fish tank, their romance escalates in the Capulet’s pool, Tybalt’s body falls into a fountain, Mercrutio dies at the beach. Water is everywhere.

These details can hardly be sourced from a single viewing. This is the kind of movie that requires multiple watches; a random still from any point in the film will prove the presence of intense thematic elements that require nearly frame-by-frame pausing to fully absorb.

Despite the initial skin-crawly sting of watching 21-year-old Leo DiCaprio romance 17-year-old Claire Danes, the casts’ chemistry is undeniable. (If only Leo wasn’t still seeking chemistry with 17-year-olds…) The film is extraordinarily well-cast; Harold Perrineau steals the screen whenever he appears, Paul Rudd has the perfect temperament for Paris, and John Leguizamo? Enough said.

Like many Luhrmann projects, this one came with its own set of production challenges (none of which are perceptible on screen, of course), and a list of directorial choices few others attempt: Extreme close-ups cut away to wide panorama shots to shock the visual system, neon color is part of the natural landscape, tension builds through the juxtaposition of blasting sound and holy silence. This movie is nothing if not “Baz”.

Romeo + Juliet amazes and entertains in the way great narrative and beautiful filmmaking should; it makes you wish every story could just be as bewitching.

My rating: 5/5

This movie is good.