Now that I'm retired from 30 years of teaching I do a lot of substitute work. At least a couple of times I subbed in English classes in which the lesson was to show the 1968 version of Romeo and Juliet. When I learned that today's lesson was also a Romeo and Juliet video I smiled, since that 1968 film is so good that I cannot help but watch it along with the class.
Imagine my dismay when, instead of Olivia Hussey, Michael York, etc., I found out that the class was to watch this monstrosity of a film set in 20th Century U.S. gang culture. I don't think I can adequately express how awful this film really is. The acting, with one or two exceptions, does not rise above the level of a ninth grade class skit. Clair Dane is embarrassing as Juliet (she was much better in Terminator 3) and Leonardo DiCaprio is little better.
Inadequate acting is not the film's only shortcoming. The sound is awful; it's very hard to make out some of the beautiful lines left us by the Bard. And, most of all, the modern setting just destroys the magic that was so expertly on display in the Zefirelli version.
This attempt at presenting Shakespeare is an absolute train wreck in my view. Total pandering to today's youth culture. If one wanted to see a modern version of Romeo and Juliet, watching West Side Story would be a much better bet. This film gets one star from me and that only by way of courtesy.
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