Jason KingRomeo and Juliet (10/10) at the Randwick Drive In
August 29th 2010 11:23
:
The Best Movie of All Time
Category: No Category
I have copped and will no doubt cop more flack for this but I am proud and love this film. It is my equal favourite film of all time. In the over 50 times I have watched it I get more out of it and I know nearly every line before it is said and also know exactly what scenes I will start crying in. And I cry at the same scenes every single viewing. To me it is a masterpiece that started my love affair with Leonardo DiCaprio.
The film took a text written nearly 400yrs ago and turned it into a modernised pop culture extravaganza that still explodes off the screen in an orgy of visual and audio delights. From go to end the exactly two hour long film in line with the prologue which states: "Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage" will forever melt my heart on every viewing, no matter where I watch it.
Last night I went on date night, with close friend Carrie, to the Randwick Racecourse Drive In. They had a couples special of $25- to watch the film. Click HERE to visit their website for future films. Firstly I will get the drive-in out of the way. I loved the way we tuned our radio in to get awesome sound in my car, I also loved that we were shown where to go by expert horsemen and we watched the film in the centre of the racecourse. I did not like that the screen was too small, or a blow up frame to the screen - it was like watching a film on a jumping castle. I also thought it was stupid playing a cinemascope film on a widescreen screen. Basically we lost about 3 ft of image on each side of the screen. I also thought they should have nailed the projectionist to the floor as every time he walked around in the portable projection booth the image moved because the booth moved. The aperature the film played though was also devastating with no clean edge around the entire screen and the idiots in the booth had the image framed too high for most of the film so I got to watch negative image flashes on every scene change - this means that the image was framed too high and you are seeing the frame line and commencement of the next frame at the bottom of the screen, it gives a white flash. My projection team would have been tarred and feathered for this bad presentation, especially Seb, who loathes R&J as he was forced to study it at school. I hate you Seb
.
Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Kate Winslet and Christina Ricci were considered for Juliet. Gellar's commitment to "All My Children" (1970) interfered, and Hewitt was considered too youthful-looking. Natalie Portman was also considered and even flew to director Baz Luhrmann's hometown, Sydney, to film scenes with Leonardo DiCaprio, when 20th Century Fox couldn't quite visualize the director's off-the-wall concept. Luhrmann says, "Although she's a fantastic young actor, she's a tiny little girl and Leonardo's six feet tall. He's 21, but can look 18. She made him look all of 21, and it just became obscene." Portman's version is this: "They said it looked like Leonardo was molesting me when we kissed. It was really disappointing, but I wouldn't have wanted to be in the movie and have it look wrong. If I was in the film, I would have wanted it to be perfect." Portman, you're an idiot, and thank god, we got Clare Danes, she was a ray of youthful sunshine in this film and lights every scene, the cry she does at the end sends a shiver down my spine every single time I hear it. One thing that did surprise me was that she wears a wig throughout the movie and also had a special aquatic wig for her underwater scenes. I had the pleasure of meeting her once, while she was dating that dickhead, but talented musician with the biggest ears in the world, Ben Lee. She was absolutely lovely and gave me the time of day to chat and allow me to gush.
The entire casting is just another part of a beehive of success where every element makes something perfect. I won't go into them all, but besides Danes, and God himself, John Leguizamo as Tybalt stands out as a superb nemesis. His style and flamenco inspired gun play is spectacular. Harold Perrineau as Mercutio is also beautifully played and I found Mercutio gay and totally in love with Romeo, also his drag scene was a perfect way to show an overwhelming experience in drug taking. Not that I would know, this is just how I would imagine it. Pete Postlethwaite as Father Laurence was also perfect and it should be noted that Postlethwaite is the only actor in the movie who speaks using iambic pentameter, the style in which nearly all of Shakespeare's verses are written in. One other notable performance was The Nurse played by Miriam Margolyes. I just love her and want to hug her over and over. She is comical and so loving. Her shaking her head yelling out "Juliet" still cracks me up.
Then there is my dashing GOD of the screen. Leonardo is my all time favourite actor and this film commenced my love affair for him. Leonardo was Baz's first choice to play Romeo and I will forever be in his debt for said choice. I still find this his best performance onscreen. Leo's version of Romeo's speech at Juliet's bier was so good it moved Claire Danes to tears, nearly ruining the scene. The moment the director yelled "cut!," Danes smacked DiCaprio on the arm and said, "Don't make me cry. I'm supposed to be comatose, here!" The guy is a legend - that is all.
One other thing that made this film so special for me was actually working with Baz on it. I screened the Australian Premiere as Senior Projectionist. I got to run the film through twice with Baz and have never met a more relaxed and down to earth man in my life. His studio minders all turned up in suits and he rocked up in shorts, T-Shirt and thongs and made me relax. He then asked me if I was screening a 70mm version as opposed to the standard of 35mm. After telling him it was just a standard 35mm print he told me it was the best presentation of his film he has seen in the world and to have that told to you when screening a film you love so much altered my career in projection and gave me more pride than I can imagine. It was one of those career successes that blows your mind. This is Baz's best work and for me it will never be beaten, or I am yet to see anything from the man himself to better this.
I hope this hasn't been an over the top gush review but what can I say, I bloody love it Any film that can make Shakespeare cool again to a new generation and that stars a sensational cast deserves an easy 10 out of 10. Below I have added some trivia on the film I find really interesting.
Trivia of Romeo and Juliet:
1) There are various bill boards throughout the movie that contain quotes from other William Shakespeare plays: - 'Shoot forth thunder' (the gun advert) is from 'The Second Part of King Henry the Sixth', Act IV, Scene I, Line 109. - 'Experience is by industry achiev'd' (in the Capulet lift) is from 'The Two Gentlemen of Verona', Act I, Scene III, Line 25. - 'Such stuff as dreams are made on' (another advert) is from 'The Tempest', Act IV, Scene I, Lines 168-169. Prospero (the name of the drink in the advert) is the player who says these lines. At the gas station, one of the Montague boys recites the Macbeth witches' chant to the nun and two passing students. The pool hall is called "Globe," after the Globe Theatre in London where these plays were first performed.
2) The majority of sets were built from scratch in order to achieve the film's unique look. The Sycamore Grove theatre and huts on Verona Beach were actually destroyed by a hurricane during filming. The beginning of the hurricane is evident during Mercutio's death scene, and many pick up shots had to be filmed elsewhere.
3) The music playing as Juliet shoots herself at the end of the film is Isolde's 'Liebestod' from Richard Wagner's opera Tristan und Isolde (1974), where it is used in the exact same context.
4) All the guns in the film are named after types of swords. The handguns belonging to Benvolio (SWORD 9mm Series S), Mercutio (DAGGER 9mm) and Tybalt (RAPIER 9mm) are Taurus PT92 or PT99 9mm Parabellum pistols. The handguns used by Romeo, Sampson and Gregory (DAGGER .45s) are Colt M-1911 Combat Commander .45 caliber pistols. The other handguns used by Abra and Petruchio are Beretta 92FS 9mm Pistols. Ted Montague's "Longsword" is actually a South African MAG-7 shotgun.
5) Baz Luhrmann sent British alternative-rock band Radiohead a videotape containing the last 20 minutes of the movie and asked them to make a song for the end credits. They composed the song "Exit Music (for a film)", which appeared on their 1997 album "OK Computer" (the director has said in the DVD commentary that he believes it's one of the best exit themes ever written)
6) Like most of William Shakespeare's work, the verse of Romeo and Juliet is written in iambic pentameter. Pete Postlethwaite, who plays Father Laurence, is the only actor in the movie who speaks using this meter.
7) Key hair stylist Aldo Signoretti was kidnapped by gang members and held for $300 ransom which Baz Luhrmann paid.
8) In Baz Luhrmann's native Australia, the soundtrack was the second highest selling album of the year, going platinum five times.
9) The Jesus statue that dominates Verona was actually a visual effect. In reality, it was 2 feet high.
10) The opening gas station encounter took 7 days to film with 2 days of pick-ups in Vera Cruz.
11) Cinematographer Donald McAlpine was faced with a real problem with the meet-cute scene between Romeo and Juliet at the fish tank - the reflections of the water and the glass of the tank were almost impossible to light without causing all sorts of untoward reflections. McAlpine solved the problem by inserting a couple of fluorescent tubes into the tank out of the camera's eyeline. These were the sole source of light in the scene.
12) Romeo and Juliet first kiss which takes place in a cramped elevator with the camera dizzyingly swirling around them was achieved by making the elevator into sections and putting the camera on a circular dolly. As it spun round, stage hands would lift and very hurriedly replace the elevator panels to accommodate the bulky camera equipment.
The film took a text written nearly 400yrs ago and turned it into a modernised pop culture extravaganza that still explodes off the screen in an orgy of visual and audio delights. From go to end the exactly two hour long film in line with the prologue which states: "Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage" will forever melt my heart on every viewing, no matter where I watch it.
Last night I went on date night, with close friend Carrie, to the Randwick Racecourse Drive In. They had a couples special of $25- to watch the film. Click HERE to visit their website for future films. Firstly I will get the drive-in out of the way. I loved the way we tuned our radio in to get awesome sound in my car, I also loved that we were shown where to go by expert horsemen and we watched the film in the centre of the racecourse. I did not like that the screen was too small, or a blow up frame to the screen - it was like watching a film on a jumping castle. I also thought it was stupid playing a cinemascope film on a widescreen screen. Basically we lost about 3 ft of image on each side of the screen. I also thought they should have nailed the projectionist to the floor as every time he walked around in the portable projection booth the image moved because the booth moved. The aperature the film played though was also devastating with no clean edge around the entire screen and the idiots in the booth had the image framed too high for most of the film so I got to watch negative image flashes on every scene change - this means that the image was framed too high and you are seeing the frame line and commencement of the next frame at the bottom of the screen, it gives a white flash. My projection team would have been tarred and feathered for this bad presentation, especially Seb, who loathes R&J as he was forced to study it at school. I hate you Seb
.
Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Kate Winslet and Christina Ricci were considered for Juliet. Gellar's commitment to "All My Children" (1970) interfered, and Hewitt was considered too youthful-looking. Natalie Portman was also considered and even flew to director Baz Luhrmann's hometown, Sydney, to film scenes with Leonardo DiCaprio, when 20th Century Fox couldn't quite visualize the director's off-the-wall concept. Luhrmann says, "Although she's a fantastic young actor, she's a tiny little girl and Leonardo's six feet tall. He's 21, but can look 18. She made him look all of 21, and it just became obscene." Portman's version is this: "They said it looked like Leonardo was molesting me when we kissed. It was really disappointing, but I wouldn't have wanted to be in the movie and have it look wrong. If I was in the film, I would have wanted it to be perfect." Portman, you're an idiot, and thank god, we got Clare Danes, she was a ray of youthful sunshine in this film and lights every scene, the cry she does at the end sends a shiver down my spine every single time I hear it. One thing that did surprise me was that she wears a wig throughout the movie and also had a special aquatic wig for her underwater scenes. I had the pleasure of meeting her once, while she was dating that dickhead, but talented musician with the biggest ears in the world, Ben Lee. She was absolutely lovely and gave me the time of day to chat and allow me to gush.
The entire casting is just another part of a beehive of success where every element makes something perfect. I won't go into them all, but besides Danes, and God himself, John Leguizamo as Tybalt stands out as a superb nemesis. His style and flamenco inspired gun play is spectacular. Harold Perrineau as Mercutio is also beautifully played and I found Mercutio gay and totally in love with Romeo, also his drag scene was a perfect way to show an overwhelming experience in drug taking. Not that I would know, this is just how I would imagine it
. Pete Postlethwaite as Father Laurence was also perfect and it should be noted that Postlethwaite is the only actor in the movie who speaks using iambic pentameter, the style in which nearly all of Shakespeare's verses are written in. One other notable performance was The Nurse played by Miriam Margolyes. I just love her and want to hug her over and over. She is comical and so loving. Her shaking her head yelling out "Juliet" still cracks me up.
Then there is my dashing GOD of the screen. Leonardo is my all time favourite actor and this film commenced my love affair for him. Leonardo was Baz's first choice to play Romeo and I will forever be in his debt for said choice. I still find this his best performance onscreen. Leo's version of Romeo's speech at Juliet's bier was so good it moved Claire Danes to tears, nearly ruining the scene. The moment the director yelled "cut!," Danes smacked DiCaprio on the arm and said, "Don't make me cry. I'm supposed to be comatose, here!" The guy is a legend - that is all.
One other thing that made this film so special for me was actually working with Baz on it. I screened the Australian Premiere as Senior Projectionist. I got to run the film through twice with Baz and have never met a more relaxed and down to earth man in my life. His studio minders all turned up in suits and he rocked up in shorts, T-Shirt and thongs and made me relax. He then asked me if I was screening a 70mm version as opposed to the standard of 35mm. After telling him it was just a standard 35mm print he told me it was the best presentation of his film he has seen in the world and to have that told to you when screening a film you love so much altered my career in projection and gave me more pride than I can imagine. It was one of those career successes that blows your mind. This is Baz's best work and for me it will never be beaten, or I am yet to see anything from the man himself to better this.
I hope this hasn't been an over the top gush review but what can I say, I bloody love it
Any film that can make Shakespeare cool again to a new generation and that stars a sensational cast deserves an easy 10 out of 10. Below I have added some trivia on the film I find really interesting.
Trivia of Romeo and Juliet:
1) There are various bill boards throughout the movie that contain quotes from other William Shakespeare plays: - 'Shoot forth thunder' (the gun advert) is from 'The Second Part of King Henry the Sixth', Act IV, Scene I, Line 109. - 'Experience is by industry achiev'd' (in the Capulet lift) is from 'The Two Gentlemen of Verona', Act I, Scene III, Line 25. - 'Such stuff as dreams are made on' (another advert) is from 'The Tempest', Act IV, Scene I, Lines 168-169. Prospero (the name of the drink in the advert) is the player who says these lines. At the gas station, one of the Montague boys recites the Macbeth witches' chant to the nun and two passing students. The pool hall is called "Globe," after the Globe Theatre in London where these plays were first performed.
2) The majority of sets were built from scratch in order to achieve the film's unique look. The Sycamore Grove theatre and huts on Verona Beach were actually destroyed by a hurricane during filming. The beginning of the hurricane is evident during Mercutio's death scene, and many pick up shots had to be filmed elsewhere.
3) The music playing as Juliet shoots herself at the end of the film is Isolde's 'Liebestod' from Richard Wagner's opera Tristan und Isolde (1974), where it is used in the exact same context.
4) All the guns in the film are named after types of swords. The handguns belonging to Benvolio (SWORD 9mm Series S), Mercutio (DAGGER 9mm) and Tybalt (RAPIER 9mm) are Taurus PT92 or PT99 9mm Parabellum pistols. The handguns used by Romeo, Sampson and Gregory (DAGGER .45s) are Colt M-1911 Combat Commander .45 caliber pistols. The other handguns used by Abra and Petruchio are Beretta 92FS 9mm Pistols. Ted Montague's "Longsword" is actually a South African MAG-7 shotgun.
5) Baz Luhrmann sent British alternative-rock band Radiohead a videotape containing the last 20 minutes of the movie and asked them to make a song for the end credits. They composed the song "Exit Music (for a film)", which appeared on their 1997 album "OK Computer" (the director has said in the DVD commentary that he believes it's one of the best exit themes ever written)
6) Like most of William Shakespeare's work, the verse of Romeo and Juliet is written in iambic pentameter. Pete Postlethwaite, who plays Father Laurence, is the only actor in the movie who speaks using this meter.
7) Key hair stylist Aldo Signoretti was kidnapped by gang members and held for $300 ransom which Baz Luhrmann paid.
8) In Baz Luhrmann's native Australia, the soundtrack was the second highest selling album of the year, going platinum five times.
9) The Jesus statue that dominates Verona was actually a visual effect. In reality, it was 2 feet high.
10) The opening gas station encounter took 7 days to film with 2 days of pick-ups in Vera Cruz.
11) Cinematographer Donald McAlpine was faced with a real problem with the meet-cute scene between Romeo and Juliet at the fish tank - the reflections of the water and the glass of the tank were almost impossible to light without causing all sorts of untoward reflections. McAlpine solved the problem by inserting a couple of fluorescent tubes into the tank out of the camera's eyeline. These were the sole source of light in the scene.
12) Romeo and Juliet first kiss which takes place in a cramped elevator with the camera dizzyingly swirling around them was achieved by making the elevator into sections and putting the camera on a circular dolly. As it spun round, stage hands would lift and very hurriedly replace the elevator panels to accommodate the bulky camera equipment.
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Comment by Rix
Comment by Sussy
Comment by Jason King
Sydney Table
Salty Popcorn
Total Randomness
Sussy - it came out in 1996. It should still be available on DVD in your country - u will love it.
Comment by Deni
Abstract Magick
Cinema Herald
You rock!
Comment by Jason King
Sydney Table
Salty Popcorn
Total Randomness
Comment by K @ the Lair
Comment by sussy
I must spend time to watch it now...
Comment by Caz
Comment by Helen Randell
Rough Cooking
Comment by Jason King
Sydney Table
Salty Popcorn
Total Randomness
Sussy - make time immediately
Caz - you're a way better date than I am - Love Ya
Helen - it's not about quantity viewing - it's all about quality viewing with this film
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
The drive-in screening sounds truly dreadful. You should send your review to them. They need to get that shit right. I won't be going to any screenings if they're not doing it properly. Mind you, I'm not very impressed with the program either. R J is one of the only cult classics playing.
Comment by Jason King
Sydney Table
Salty Popcorn
Total Randomness
I may just send this over to the drive-in - one other thing that totally pissed me off that I forgot to mention - what place that screens movies does not sell choc tops?? Grrrrrrrrr. Not one item at the store with ice cream in it.
They are screening Breakfast at Tiffanies this weekend. A film I have never seen - am tossing up whether to go again.
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
I'm not a huge fan of Shakespeare, but that said I have three of his screen adaptations that I love: this, Polanski's MacBeth and Orson Welles' Othello.
I would love to program a season of drive-in movies ... I'd totally go down the cult classic "midnight movie" lane though, but it'd be great fun. I'd make sure the popcorn was super-tasty (salty and/or buttery), there was a bar selling cheap, but good beer, and 70s rock classics blasting during intermission!
And choc-tops!
Comment by Jason King
Sydney Table
Salty Popcorn
Total Randomness
Will be checking out the other adaptions you suggested too!!
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile