Is the story of "Romeo & Juliet"
still up to date ?
First of all, love stories are always up to date because love is something everybody is interested in and which appeals to many people as well. Everyone has fallen in love at least once or twice or rather 100 times in his or her life. In almost every movie one of the major topics is love. Most often two people can't get together because of several reasons which will be explained later on. Romances like "Romeo and Juliet" which deal with teenagers falling in deep love for the first time attract the folks. Especially younger people are attracted by this type of stories.
The conflict of Shakespeare`s story can be related to today`s love-relationship problems like racial problems. Most people who live with people of other races in their countries have difficulties with having a relationship to somebody of the other race. Society often doesn't want people to mix up, and if they still get together their children might become isolated. The differing classes families belong to, whether they're poor or rich, play an important role for many people, mostly for the rich. If we look at the Royal Family we see that it was quite difficult for the underclass girl Diana to get along with her husband and his important relatives. But also in normal, well-situated families many parents don't want their children to get together with people from a lower class. Religion has been another reason which often prevents people from finding together. In many countries Muslims don't marry a person they love but somebody their parents have chosen for them (Exactly as Lady Capulet chose Paris as a fitting husband for Juliet.) Also, normally Muslims are not allowed to marry anybody who is not a Muslim.
The topic of "Romeo and Juliet" thus is still up to date. Only the form of the 400 year-old literature has changed. Luhrmann´s version of Shakespeare´s play tries to cope with the differences that have come up during the centuries. Luhrmann uses daily conflicts like business competitions, drugs and gang wars to replace Shakespeare´s problems that are now not shocking anymore. He hasn't changed the language and the role of women, though. Romeo, Juliet and all the other characters speak in old Elizabethan English. The wives of Mr Capulet and Mr Montague are as willing to please their husbands as they are in the original. The movie actually proves that Shakespeare´s "Romeo and Juliet" IS timeless.