IN FAIR VERONA we set our scene and Baz Luhrmann presents us a fever dream of a film.

Amanda Bain Wysocki joins me to discuss the classic 1996 film William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet, the punk rock Shakespeare adaptation many Millennials discovered as their gateway drug to the Bard.

Between Amanda’s special edition DVD and insight into the director’s commentary and me scraping various articles from the internet, together we’re able to provide an analysis of the film that looks like at why it is so loud and chaotic, why that choice does work with the intent of the play, how the movie successfully takes teenagers seriously, and extra love thrown at Mercutio in particular. (Plus we consider some problematic elements at play here.)

Don’t like this play or movie? Then we defy you, stars! But, really, we have a rich text here well worth pulling apart.

Further Reading and Viewing

William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet (1996) (If you still have a DVD player, looks like you can still find the special edition DVD! Otherwise, look to streaming.)

Romeo and Juliet (the original play)

Interview with Baz Luhrmann for Signet in 1996 (archived for posterity)

“Behind the Red Curtain of Verona Beach: Baz Luhrmann’s William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet” by Toby Malone in Shakespeare Survey, 2012.

Strictly Shakespeare? Dead Letters, Ghostly Fathers, and the Cultural Pathology of Authorship in Baz Luhrmann's "William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet" by Courtney Lehmann in Shakespeare Quarterly, 2001

“Baz Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet: On set with Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes” by Rebecca Ascher-Walsh for Entertainment Weekly, 1996.

Credit where credit is due

Art by ⁠Halie Branson⁠

Music recording by ⁠josdvg⁠