Romeo and Juliet is a 1996 American romantic drama film adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. It was directed by Baz Luhrman. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Chaire Danes in the leading roles. The film is an abridged modernization of Shakespeare's play. While it retains the original Shakespearean dialogue, the Montagues and the Capulets are represented as warring mafia empires (with legitimate business fronts) and swords are replaces with guns (with brand names such as "Dagger" and "Sword").
Some of the characters' name are also changed. Lord and Lady Montague and Lord and Lady Capulet are given first names (as opposed to the Shakespeare original where their first names are never mentioned) , Friar Lawrence becomes Father Lawrence, and Prince Escalus is renamed Captain Prince. There is also no Friar John, who was in the original play. Also, some characters were switched from one family to the other-in the original, Gregory and Sampson are Capulets, but in the film, they are Montagues. (Abram, as Abra, and Petruchio, conversely, are shifted from the Montague to the Capulet family.) in addition, a few plot details are shifted, most notably near the ending.
Baz Luhrmann helped adapt this classic Shakespearean romantic tragedy for the screen, updating the setting to a post-modern city named Verona Beach. In this version, the Capulets and Montaques are two rival gangs. Juliet (Claire Danes) is attending a costume ball thrown by her parents. Her father Fulgencio Capulet (Paul Sorvino) has arranged her marriage to boorish Paris as part of a strategic investment plan. Romeo attends the masked ball and he and Juliet fall in love.
At the 47th Berlin International Film Festival in 1997, DiCaprio won the Silver Bear for Best Actor and Luhrmann won the Alfred Bauer Prize. Luhrmann was also nominated for the Golden Bear Award for Best Picture. At the 69th Academy Awards, Catherine Martin and Brigitte Broch were nominated for Best Art Direction/Set Decoration.
In Verona Beach ,the Capulets and the Montagues are arch-rivals. The animosity of the older generation-Fulgencio and Gloria Capulet and Ted and Caroline Montague-is felt by their younger relatives. A gunfight between the Montague boys led by Benvolio, Romeo's cousin, and the Capulet boys led by Tybalt, Juliet's cousin, creates chaos in the city. The Chief of Police, Captain Prince, reprimands the families, warning them that if such behavior continues, their lives "shall pay the forfeit of peace".
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