Romeo + Juliet
Hey, Do You Remember...?
Christopher Schrader
4.8 • 676 Ratings
🗓️ 6 February 2015
⏱️ 101 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
We all had pretty mixed feelings about Baz Luhrmann's adaptation of Romeo + Juliet when it was released in 1996. Donna initially loved it, but was already fairly lukewarm on it the following year. Carlos always enjoyed the film and still regards it as his favorite cinematic version of the story. Chris expected to adore it, but was surprised to find it borderline unwatchable. None of us had seen it in many, many years and there were a few surprising revelations after this viewing.
Topics include: the pretty terrible introductory scene, the pros and cons of casting age-appropriate actors in the title roles, some of the criticisms surrounding this take on Mercutio and why the three of us are totally on board with it, how much of this tragedy can be blamed on Father Lawrence and why he really should have known better, how little screen time Romeo and Juliet actually share, the unbelievable production design, the sluggish second half, and much much more!
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hey, do you remember Romeo and Juliet? |
| 0:07.0 | Hello and welcome, Hey, do you remember, Hey Do You Remember, a show where we reminisce about a movie or TV series we grew up with, then take off the rose-tinted glasses to see how it holds up. |
| 0:31.9 | I'm Chris. |
| 0:32.7 | I'm Donna. |
| 0:33.5 | And I'm Carlos. |
| 0:34.0 | And today we're revisiting Romeo and Juliet. |
| 0:52.9 | Thank you. And I'm Carlos. And today we're revisiting Romeo and Juliet. After the success of his debut film Strictly Ballroom, director Baz Lurman initially had a difficult time deciding what his next project would be. |
| 1:01.4 | He spent several years focusing on non-film-related work, but he eventually hit upon an idea that was too intriguing to ignore. |
| 1:08.5 | What if updating the work of William Shakespeare amounted to more than just |
| 1:11.9 | placing one of his tales in a contemporary setting? What if you approached a cinematic adaptation |
| 1:17.1 | the way Shakespeare himself might if he were the one directing it? Lorman knew Shakespeare to be a |
| 1:22.6 | showman, an entertainer, a man who infused his work with nuance but wasn't above playing to the cheap |
| 1:27.9 | seats. What would that guy do if he were behind the camera? Lurman thought he knew the answer. |
| 1:33.3 | He'd go big or go home. And that's exactly the approach he took with his punk rock riff on one |
| 1:38.4 | of the Bard's most popular plays, Romeo and Juliet. It's Shakespeare for the MTV Generation, |
| 1:46.4 | a dizzying mix of loud performances, |
| 1:52.5 | loud music, and even louder imagery. Bolstered by Leonardo DiCaprio's freshly cemented heartthrob status and a best-selling tie-in soundtrack, the $15 million movie went on to make $150 million worldwide. |
| 2:00.0 | It may have been a more accessible entry point to Shakespeare's |
| 2:02.7 | catalog than a stuffy English classroom, but not everyone was a fan. Many a purist complained about |
| 2:08.4 | the film's abrasive in-your-face presentation, but were those criticisms valid, or were Lourman's |
| 2:13.6 | somewhat adolescent sensibilities completely appropriate for a story about impetuous teenagers. |
| 2:19.2 | Did he defile the source material, as some critics suggested? |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Christopher Schrader, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Christopher Schrader and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.