William
Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” is one of his plays that have been done to
death. I can’t even keep track of all the adaptations, but on top of that there
have been other versions that were at the very least inspired by this classic
tragedy (“West Side Story” is the most obvious example). Since Shakespeare’s
time, “Romeo and Juliet” has been done in many different styles and taken place
in various time periods. It seems that the only way to do a production of the
play these days is to break free of the way it was during Shakespeare’s time. Baz
Luhrmann’s modern take on “Romeo and Juliet” was absolutely entrancing in how
it made us feel like we were watching the play again for the very first time,
and Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes never had a shortage of chemistry
between them.
So that
makes this latest “Romeo and Juliet,” directed by Carlo Carlei and adapted to
the screen by Julian Fellowes, comes across as a renegade version for they have
instead brought Shakespeare’s work back to its traditional and romantic
version. It is filled with medieval costumes, balcony scenes and duels, and the
filmmakers even got the opportunity to shoot it at the story’s original
location of Verona, Italy. But for all the effort put into this umpteenth film
adaptation of this famous tragedy, the whole endeavor really feels like it is severely
lacking in passion.
Perhaps the
main problem is the lack of chemistry between the two leads, Douglas Booth and
Hailee Steinfeld. When they first meet at the dance, their instant attraction
to one another is not quite palpable and it almost feels forced. While both
actors do their best to connect with one another, their relationship never
seems believable enough for us to really care what happens to them. Towards the
end, I started to get impatient and kept waiting for Romeo to do himself in
already.
Steinfeld is
a wonderful actress, having given a deservedly Oscar nominated performance in
“True Grit” (though she should have been for Best Actress, not Best Supporting
Actress), she does well in the role and has quite a radiant smile that lights
up the screen. At the same time, Steinfeld seems miscast in this role when
paired with Booth. Even though Steinfeld is around the same age as Juliet is in
the play, she seems too young to be taking on this famous role now. It’s a
shame to say that because she certainly isn’t bad, but I came out of this movie
feeling that an actress just few years older might have fit the bill a little
better.
As for
Booth, it takes a little too long for him to come to life as Romeo. When we
first see him, he doesn’t seem all that crazy about Rosalind even though we see
him making a bust of her likeness. Even during that classic balcony scene, the
quick attraction between him and Juliet feels awkward as they still don’t seem
quite as madly in love as they are supposed to be. Booth’s performance does get
stronger as the movie goes on, but he never digs deep enough in the role to where
we care deeply about his plight.
Carlei,
whose work as a director I am not familiar with, does capture the beauty of
Verona, Italy to where it made me want to get on a plane and visit it sin the
near future. His handling of the conflict between the Capulets and the
Montagues, however, is not clearly defined, and we never quite get a full idea
of what made them hate each other so much in the first place. This is the
original gang story for crying out loud! As for the battle scenes, they feel a
bit too staged and could have been worked on more to where they could have been
intensely exciting. Even though many of us are very familiar with the play
“Romeo and Juliet” and how it ends, there are still ways you can draw audiences
into the story to where the story can deeply affect them.
Fellowes is
best known these days for creating the popular show “Downton Abbey,” and he
seems like a natural to adapt any Shakespeare play let alone “Romeo and
Juliet.” He preserves the dialogue for the most part, and it’s clear that he
has a deep love and understanding for the Bard’s words. At the same time, this
film has been severely affected by a misleading advertisement which stated that
it would not be using Shakespeare’s traditional dialogue but would still follow
the play’s plot. But having been exposed to this play many times before, I
really couldn’t tell the difference between what Shakespeare wrote and what Fellowes
came up with. Go figure.
It’s a shame
because this “Romeo & Juliet” still has a number of great supporting
performances that will make it worth watching for some. Ed Westwick makes a
fierce antagonist out of Tybalt, his eyes filled with rage over a betrayal he
can never forgive. Lesley Manville, perhaps best known for work with Mike
Leigh, is priceless as the Nurse and succeeds in taking the character from her
ecstatic highs to her tragic lows. Manville never misses a beat every time she
appears onscreen.
There’s also
Damian Lewis, the star of a show I should be watching (“Homeland”), as Lord
Capulet, and he gives the character of Juliet’s father a twisted feel which
really makes his performance stand out. Kodi-Smit McPhee is very strong as
Romeo’s good friend Benvolio, Natascha McElhone gives us a sympathetic Lady
Capulet, and Stellan Skarsgård is a welcome presence as always as the Prince.
But it’s
really no surprise to see Paul Giamatti stealing the show as Friar Laurence. In
fact, it’s truly one of the best interpretations of this role that I have ever
seen. Friar Laurence is the moral center of “Romeo & Juliet,” and he sees
the union between these two as a way of bringing peace between the Capulets and
the Montagues. You can tell that Giamatti put his heart and soul into this
part, and we weep with him when his well-intentioned plans fall apart so
tragically.
Still, despite
all the great performances, this “Romeo & Juliet” never really comes to
life in the way a truly great Shakespearean production does. The language in
each of Shakespeare’s play is so rich, and it can be so intoxicating to take in
when it’s done right. That’s certainly how I felt after watching Kenneth
Branagh’s cinematic adaptations of Shakespeare’s work, but Carlei is not as
successful in making this famous playwright’s words come alive, and he is
working from a script by Fellowes.
Every
generation definitely deserves their own version of “Romeo and Juliet,” but
this one is not going to do the trick. They will be better off with Baz
Luhrmann’s version which ended up breaking my heart as it made me want to see
these two lovers come together and cheat death. Or perhaps it was just that big
crush I had on Clare Danes at the time that made the movie affect me so much.
Oh well…
* * out of * * * *
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