William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet (1996)
Shakespeare’s lines, in a modern city called Verona Beach.
The words can survive anything, so drop them into a loud, modern, sweltering city and see.
You want the verse, and you want it loud, bright and modern.
What it keeps and what it changes
Keeps: the dialogue. The setting is modern; what the characters say is the play.
Changes: everything you can see: the feud moves to a modern suburb called Verona Beach, with Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes as the lovers and John Leguizamo as Tybalt.
Whose story is it?
the lovers’, at full volume. The city around them is as loud as they are.
How much time does it ask?
A feature, 2 hours. Directed by Baz Luhrmann.
Synopsis: the feud moves to “the sweltering suburb of Verona Beach” — and “the bard’s dialogue remains.”
Where to find it
Other ways to get it: Find where it’s streaming — JustWatch
More ways into Verona: Romeo and Juliet (George Cukor, 1936) · Romeo and Juliet (Franco Zeffirelli, 1968) · Tromeo and Juliet (1996)