Jayce Barillaro

ENGL 2011

10/16/13

Romeo + Juliets Interrogation of True Love

Romeo and Juliet has long been one of William Shakespeares most recognizable and one of his

most appropriated pieces of work. One of the points of the tragedy that has often been disputed is

whether our star crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet, were truly in love, or merely caught up in fleeting

teenage infatuation or lust. Romeo + Juliet, a modern interpretation directed by Baz Luhrmann and

starring Lenoardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes, takes the production in a radical direction with over-the-

top flamboyancy and camera work, but I would argue that despite all the flashiness, Luhrmann makes an

impressive effort to display the classic tale as a story of true, mature love.

Romeo + Juliet is one of the more flamboyant films that I have had the experience of viewing.

The characters are almost all insane, to some degree. Montague and Capulet are moguls, rich and

powerful and above the law. Their servants not only start an all-out gunfight at a public gas station, they

not only blow up the entire station, but this is the third time a public brawl like this has happened

between Montagues and Capulets in the city of Verona, and they leave the Chief of Polices office with

little more than a warning. Lady Capulet seems barely able to manage herself, never mind raising her

daughter. Tybalt is a short tempered, trigger happy man who would love to see the city in all-out war.

Gregory and Sampson are idiots and cowards, and perhaps the most flamboyant character of all,

Mercutio, enjoys dancing in drag, views love with disdain as he can only see it in a shallow, sexual

context, and is implied to possibly have unrequited, one sided feelings for his friend Romeo. Though
they are young, and they have only just met, when compared with this absurd cast, our two protagonists

seem relatively grounded, well adjusted, and fully capable of comprehending the feelings of love.

In Shakespeares time, a play was a largely aural experience, with bare stages, minimal props,

and simple costumes. Characters had lines that served the sole purpose of setting the scene and

describing their surroundings to their audience. Luhrmann set out knowing that he would have to

create a modern, visual experience that could hold the attention of his cinema audience. He uses huge

skyline-spanning shots of his fictional city of Verona, schizophrenic camera angles in the middle of

dialogue, and ridiculous action effects. A gas station explosion, diving gunfights and twirling handguns,

car chases and police choppers all add to the insanity. While his action scenes do a good job of holding

an audience member in captivation, they have an underlying purpose of highlighting by contrast the

scenes where the absurdity is toned down to focus on the lovers personal story. It seems whenever

Romeo and Juliet appear alone, the camera stabilizes, the montages and unnerving cuts stop, and they

seem to become the most mature, reasonable people in the film. One particular scene comes to mind,

the Capulets party. From the moment of Mercutio and the Montagues arrival, Luhrmann portrays

what could be described as a surreal kaleidoscope of events, from the room spinning to Mercutio

dancing in drag and Tybalt roaring like a lion. The effect can be attributed to Romeos own view of

events, after taking ecstasy before arriving at the party. Its an intriguing addition to the story, as it

could certainly be argued that it was the love drug bringing Romeo and Juliet together, rather than

fate or true love. Before they meet though, Romeo almost blacks out, and then is seen dunking his

entire head into a wash basin, and I believe Luhrmann wanted him to symbolically cleanse himself of

the chemical substances. The scene suddenly becomes beautiful and serene, an opera singer in the

background of the ballroom, a tranquil and captivating tank of tropical fish, long panning shots of

Romeos face, and through the crystal water he sees Juliet for the first time. In that moment of calm, it

does not seem as if they are chasing hormone-fueled teenage emotions, but sharing a real connection,
and as Juliet is pulled away to dance with her suitor Paris, they keep looking for each other in the crowd,

trying to solidify what they both believe could be something real. I think Luhrmann believed in their

love, and wanted to present something that could make a convincing argument of their real, destined

love for each other.