Movie adaptations

Romeo + Juliet by Baz Luhrmann

In 1996, Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet was adapted into the hit movie Romeo + Juliet, starring Clare Danes as Juliet and Leonardo DiCaprio as Romeo. Despite using Shakespearean English, the movie is a modernized version of the original story, set in the big city of Verona Beach. 

The movie follows the play closely, especially in terms of characters and plot. Romeo and Juliet belong to warring crime families but fall in love at a ball anyway. Interestingly, Romeo is under the influence of ecstasy when he first sees Juliet, which might challenge the idea of love at first sight. The lovers dream of eloping to Mantua, which is a trailer park in the desert in this adaptation. As we know, they do not succeed. Romeo drinks poison, while Juliet shoots herself i...