Pretty much everyone knows what Romeo and Juliet is about, but I’ll go over it for you if you’ve never seen the 1996 movie version with Leonardo DiCaprio in pre weight gain adolescence. It’s Shakespeare’s love/tragedy of star crossed lovers doomed from the start, who pretty much bring everyone else around them down in their destruction and selfishness. Let’s break it down and look at what the movie kept the same from the original play what’s different, besides Leo’s awful unbuttoned beach themed shirts.
Similarities
They use quotes straight out of the play, which I find hilarious since they’re smoking cigarettes and having turf wars in California. The characters are exactly the same, which is awesome because I hate when there is “creative adaptation” and everything gets changed. Juliet is still naïve, Romeo is still fickle and Tybalt is still a jerk. There are still fight scenes that manage well with the modern day setting. Every important scene from the play is also in the movie. Claire Danes, who plays Juliet, also looks like a baby in this movie, which is good because in the play Juliet is supposed to be 13 or around that age. I don’t need to even touch on Romeo because we all know, unless you’re deluded or stupid, that early Leo is the best Leo.
Differences
At the end of the play, Juliet wakes up from her sleep to find Romeo already dead with the poison he drank. In the movie, she wakes up as Romeo is dying, which makes the whole situation suck worse than it already does. No one wants to watch the one person they’ve ever loved die right in front of their eyes when they thought they had a plan to be together forever. There’s also a scene when Romeo and Juliet make out underwater in a pool. I find this a bit strange to begin with, let alone adding it into one of the supposed best love stories of all time, but hey to each his own, I guess. The modern times also adds many changes, but it was necessary. Like the costumes (those shirts Leo!), the setting (beach front California>Italy), and guns over swords. I think it would have been pretty awesome to have an epic sword fight on the street in 1996, but that could just be me.
If you’ve been living under a rock for your whole life, you should check this movie out! Even though it’s not one of my favorites, it’s worth a watch. Check out the trailer up top. If you want any more information about the movie check out it’s page here.