What the critics say
Shakespeare as a 20th century movie production - is this going to work?
Each generation reinvents Shakespeare for itself- there are lots of copies of the most famous love story of our millennium. So what is different about this one? Why do critics do or don't like about Baz Luhrmann's production?
On the one hand, a lot of critics call the movie a ninety minutes long music video-MTV trash, only appealing to the 18-24 year olds. One of them said it reminded him of a Calvin Klein spot, the cameras were moved around too quickly for the eyes to follow. After the first few minutes the viewer's ears hurt as if he had been at a rock concert.
Luhrmann is accused of not having remained neutral but of having taken sides from the beginning on. Leonardo DiCaprio starring Romeo was supposed to be seen as the hero. Luhrmann wanted the viewer to take sides with Romeo. Many critics see nothing in DiCaprio but a rather bad actor, though. He and Claire Danes weren't up to the challenge, they say. They are accused of not having a feeling for, nor having understood the meaning of their lines. They even seemed to be embarrassed of talking in the Elizabethan English language. In the eyes of the critics who didn't like the movie, bad acting seems to be a general problem. Dash Mihok (Benvolio, Romeo's friend) is criticised to be quite unemotional, apparently only saying his lines without any feeling for them. The actors that were the only good ones in the eyes of some critics didn't get the time to speak: Brian Dennehy and Paul Sorvino acting as Ted Montague and Fulgencio Capulet were called "a nice touch" by those critics but their roles were limited to a few lines.
Others find the religious aspect in "Romeo and Juliet" was too exaggerated but still didn't have any spiritual meaning. Some critics generally don't seem to like the way Luhrmann directs his movie. The modern songs which underline the story are said to oppress the Elizabethan dialogues. The modern weapons (guns) couldn't adequately replace swords. These critics say that Luhrmann just didn't have the feeling to direct such a dramatic and demanding story like "Romeo and Juliet".
On the other hand Baz Luhrmann's version of this love story even succeeds in attracting sceptical critics of the four hundred year old literature, for example all the high school freshmen who have difficulties in understanding it. Many professional critics believe that the modern film version was successful in delivering the original epic to young viewers. In contrast to the earlier mentioned criticisms, the supporters think that Luhrmann ensured that the audience sees his work as a tribute to the world's greatest playwright and not as a parody of a classic. Luhrmann produced a movie that is appealing to today's movie-going audience because together with his actors DiCaprio and Danes he created a beautiful love story.
The actors were as much loved by the supporters as they were hated by other critics who disliked the movie. They believe that DiCaprio and Danes were perfectly up to the challenge. Danes, sans makeup, showed natural beauty as Juliet. Her on-screen chemistry with DiCaprio transcends the antiquated language to produce this touching and tragic story that fits today's movie theatres. The actors follow the well-known dialogue with nearly an English accent. Especially the aquarium scene where Romeo first views Juliet is liked by the critics since it is accompanied by stirring music, and it sparks the ethereal romance between them by taking advantage of their moving facial expressions.
Altogether, it seems that most critics loved "Romeo and Juliet": "We laughed, we cried. That seems to be exactly what Shakespeare intended!"