ROMEO + JULIET

SYNOPSIS:
The greatest love story ever told comes to life in mythical Verona Beach, a city ripe with attitude, passion and vengeance. Gangs rule the streets, and the citizens either thrive or barely survive in the wild raw environment. Set against this backdrop is a stunning rendition of Shakespeare's classic tale Romeo & Juliet. In this opulent world of hate, rival gangs and families at war, Romeo (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Juliet (Claire Danes), are ignited by the passion of first forbidden love and Verona Beach explodes.

Review by Andrew L. Urban:
"You either love it or hate it, I think, this wild and reverberating version of the eternal and tragic love story between two children of rival families. Baz has started from the premise that Shakespeare was writing pulp fiction for an audience of rowdy Englishmen who resembled a football crowd more than a theatre audience. He kept their attention and got them involved by every theatrical trick he knew. Baz simply imagined the Bard working today: this film, he believes, might have been what the foxy old writer could have come up with. The transportation of 400 year old language to a contemporary setting has upset some people, who are in awe of the Bard’s words. I, for one, think they’ve been well served by the remarkable clarity and sincerity with which they’ve been transported. Credit to the entire fabulous cast, especially young Leonardo, and to Baz, for a fully satisfying and visually stimulating production. It is at once inventive cinema and great theatre.