The Movies "Romeo & Juliet"

Okay, so as we all know, there are two Romeo & Juliet movies. The first was made in 1968, and adapts to the storyline pretty well. It follows the play pretty straightforward. Now, the next Romeo & Juliet was made in 1996, and follows a completely different approach. We all know this latest film for have Leonardo DeCaprio in it, of course.

The classic Romeo and Juliet is set in a 16th century world with swords and Elizabethan words, such as "thou" and "art".

This adaption also filled in the missing peices with Elizabethan Language, one thing the 1996 film did not include.

Do you think this film is better?

And by looking at this picture, you can tell that the latest Romeo & Juliet movie differed a lot. The words didn't change, as in the script. They recited them word for word in the movie, but when watching it, you get the sense of strangeness, 1.) because they aren't English, they don't have accents, and 2.) because the story is set in a completely different atmosphere. It's set in a sort of Malibu
looking place that can only be called Verona, and the beggining portrays...um, cheesiness. I guess that's right. The look doesn't fit with the scenario. Instead of using swords, they use guns to give a more "modernized" feel, and change up the wordrobe quite a bit, but if they're modernizing all of that, why aren't they modernizing the script? Of course, it's nice that they stuck to the original, but, I think that they should have taken a risk and changed it up a bit. They could have encorperated some of Shakespeare's words, but not all. I mean, what would it sound like if I talked like that everyday...the movie gives the appearance of our times, but brings us back to the uncivilized life. That's not to say, though, that the movie didn't get better after about a third of the way through. The later movie contained some elements that the first didn't that actually surprised me and got me excited.
Okay, first off, let's just say that Leonardo DeCaprio and Claire Danes are amazing actors in this, so even though I didn't care to much for the plot, I enjoyed the acting. What I did like about the second movie, that I didn't like about the first is that there's more emotion in it. It's made more dramatic and that suits me just fine. It showed off the actor's skills. Especially Leo.


But who's to choose? Did you like the second one better?

Thanks!



Chelisa