Romeo & Juliet: The Contemporary Film, The Classic Play

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About Romeo & Juliet: The Contemporary Film, The Classic

Product Description Award-winning director Baz Luhrmann ( Strictly Ballroom) has updated Shakespeare's classic tragedy of young love and teen suicide in a unique new film, in which the warring Capulets and Montagues are gangsters who carry guns instead of swords. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio ( What's Eating Gilbert Grape, The Basketball Diaries) and Claire Danes ( My So-Called Life, Little Women) as the doomed lovers, the film is set in a modern city. The actors speak Shakespeare's words--but with their own American accents. Readers can now experience this new vision of Shakespeare's violent, tragic play alongside the Bard s original text, in a special single volume that features an introduction by the film's director. Review While Romeo and Juliet could be equally well reviewed for young adults in our Children's Bookwatch issue, it's presented here because adults, too, will find this modern screenplay of interest. The update on Shakespeare's classic assumes 'West Side Story' trappings as the warring families become gangsters who carry guns. Shakespeare's words are spoken with American accents here. How? Read the screenplay: it's eye-opening and may well introduce reluctant new generations to Shakespeare's drama. -- Midwest Book Review From the Inside Flap Award-winning director Baz Luhrmann ( Strictly Ballroom) has updated Shakespeare's classic tragedy of young love and teen suicide in a unique new film, in which the warring Capulets and Montagues are gangsters who carry guns instead of swords. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio ( What's Eating Gilbert Grape, The Basketball Diaries) and Claire Danes ( My So-Called Life, Little Women) as the doomed lovers, the film is set in a modern city. The actors speak Shakespeare's words--but with their own American accents. Readers can now experience this new vision of Shakespeare's violent, tragic play alongside the Bard s original text, in a special single volume that features an introduction by the film's director.