Movie: Romeo + Juliet (Baz Luhrmann, 1996)
"I always look annoyed. When you look annoyed all the time, people think that you are busy."
I may cite Seinfeld too much, but it's only fitting when writing about another great innovator of English language. In truth, that George line has had a similar effect on me as Shakespeare's works on the average British theatre actor. In all walks of life, I am skeptical of ostentatious displays of blood, sweat and tears, of desperate attempts to showcase the effort behind the work, It's one of the many reasons why I've never liked the Lord of the Rings, or Marvel's Avengers project, why I will always prefer Messi over Cristiano Ronaldo, why I wouldn't ever wanna get involved with Sillicon Valley startup culture and why I am allergic to politicians cosplaying as Max Weber. Its total rejection of these attitudes is also what makes Seinfled itself so great. The show happily presents as a lightweight lark 'about nothing' and highlights the ease and fun of its own making, letting entire scenes stand where all main actors are visibly on the brink of breaking character, with Seinfeld himself barely even feigning an effort to act.
Romeo + Juliet does Shakespeare a great disservice whenever it pulls out all the stops to show how hip and up to date he still is, most notably in the absolutely ridiculous opening scene where Luhrmann films a gun fight at a gas station as if he is trying to combine the most over the top elements of Spike Lee, Michael Bay and Quentin Tarantino in one go. The camera moves in a frenzy between various groups of flashily dressed urban youths as they insult each other while doing wheelies in way too expensive super cars. Title cards in explosive fonts introducing the players are accompanied by freeze frames and self-consciously cool music. Expressive, fetishistic zoom-ins to guns being brandished are followed by slow-motion shots of a lit match being dramatically thrown on the ground, evoking a cowboy getting ready for the big battle in a western. The whole scene plays as if Luhrmann is an insecure tryhard theater major who has to prove to his mentor that Sheakspeare can still be relevant in the 1990's, repeating the same argument in increasingly convoluted ways. He is ultimately saved by the man himself. No mattter how bloated and obnoxious the scene gets, somehow Shakespeare's original dialogue always seems to fit.
I hadn't seen Romeo + Juliet since I was a teen, when I absolutely loved it, and I can see why. When it leaves the side characters off the stage and purely focuses on Romeo (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Juliet (Claire Danes) it is really good, in particular for teenagers. Luhrmann's direction heightens and validates every emotion of its lovers. DiCaprio is introduced broodingly sitting on the beach as a Radiohead song plays on the soundtrack and it feels as if all of the world should feel like he does. And when DiCaprio and Danes woo each other, their passionate intensity almost really does convince that their love for each other is the only thing that can possibly matter. The two have an incredible (effortless!) chemistry from the very first shot in which they appear together; without the bene0fit of hindsight it would be very hard to believe that Danes didn't go on to have the same superstar career as DiCaprio.
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