Romeo + Juliet (1996)

Great for my students
Shakespeare is hard for any student to grasp- especially while reading it out of a textbook. These plays were meant to be seen and heard! This classic version of Romeo and Juliet is fairly accurate to the play, and aside from a little nudity after Romeo and Juliet consummate their marriage, perfectly appropriate for the classroom. I like to show clips of the Romeo and Juliet staring Leonardo and Claire for a little compare/contrast. For the most part, students prefer this more traditional portrayal.

This is the one
Hollywood was at it's best when this was produced. Earlier productions missed the mark with finding the essence of the message but this production found the mark and was completely on target with it. Even though it took liberty, as visual arts is welcomed to do, and changed a few minor details from the original Shakespeare script, it did so in order to reach it's mark. Romeo's mother did not die of grief in the movie, Paris was omitted from the death scene in Act V, and a couple of minor scenes like Friar Lawerence's comparison of plants and human behavior having the ability to result in things good as well as things not good were left out. The search for and obtaining the death drug by Romeo was also omitted. But who would know the difference? It was a great movie of a great classic. Recent attempts from Hollywood to retell the story have failed to reach this production's high achievement. Recommendation:
After seeing this movie the next must see production would be "Shakespeare In Love".

This is the one
Hollywood was at it's best when this was produced. Earlier productions missed the mark with finding the essence of the message but this production found the mark and was completely on target with it. Even though it took liberty, as visual arts is welcomed to do, and changed a few minor details from the original Shakespeare script, it did so in order to reach it's mark. Romeo's mother did not die of grief in the movie, Paris was omitted from the death scene in Act V, and a couple of minor scenes like Friar Lawerence's comparison of plants and human behavior having the ability to result in things good as well as things not good were left out. The search for and obtaining the death drug by Romeo was also omitted. But who would know the difference? It was a great movie of a great classic. Recent attempts from Hollywood to retell the story have failed to reach this production's high achievement. Recommendation:
After seeing this movie the next must see production would be "Shakespeare In Love".