Spoilers

I had to intention last sunday when i put on Prince of thieves that i would have a 90s week, but i have. all the films i have seen have been from the 90’s or were set in the 90s or are based on a 90s classic (new space jam) so yeah i need one to complete the week. So i message my sister who said Titanic or Jumanji. I dont have Titanic on DVD & i watch Robin Williams this week so she then went well go Leo then. So im going to watch the film that helped me get an A in English all those years ago (im so sorry about my grammar now to my old teachers, but you always said i liked to write & go on for ever).

they must have been like 16 filming this they are all so young in this film they really are (I mean Paul Rudd hasnt aged in 25 years but still {whats his secret}) but i know this is the kind of film to make or break someones carer & set them up for the future but oh wow they really were young werent they making this. But it just so worked.

DiCaprio & Danes Chemistry is so brilliant it really is. I mean its just so believable that by the time when we get to the third act it is heart-breaking to watch them both go through such heartache & despair to do anything to be with the other. Both act well beyond their years & are amazing.

That being said the bathroom aquarium scene (i mean who has an fish tank in their guest bathroom seriously) is one of the most beautiful of the film. I mean yes without this you dont get the dance &then you dont get the balcony (actually swimming pool scene) where they profess their love for each other. But its their naivety & young faces & flirting through the walls of glass which is so sweet & beautiful. Love at first sight works like that. & Baz just nails that moment & Desrees singing. Its beautiful.

Baz really did make them all actually do proper Shakespeare. Good on him. I mean this is a good way to get kids into it (okay film looks old now) but it got some of my English class into it. I mean i already was so i didnt need converting at all. But its such a good way to introduce them to it. They have no idea they are picking it up & being converted. I do have a question tho, there is a point where Romeo goes live long & be prosperous… is Romeo a descendant of Spock or is Spock a descendant of Romeo. Spock often reference his ancestor who divulged that line, so it could be.

Mercutio’s monologue before the party is bloody intense & so powerful & is amazing & foreshadows the rest of the film perfectly. ITs amazing. I love it. I know he id to blame for everything (& i should know i blamed him in my english literature GCSE for it all & got an A so i convinced whoever marked it that he was). but its so brilliant & so clever, that even if i knew it was going to be ill-fated, id have gone to that party too.

So the priest knew Benvolio was at the wedding why didnt he grab him & tell him its fake. Hes the other person other than the nurse & Benvolio whos in on the secret. He could have easily told him & they could have lived happily ever after. Also why rewrite to mantua when theres only an hours to go before she awakens. Makes no sense. Fedex really werent that good were they.

I love the part its fabulous, im not sure Shakespeare quite had that in mind when he wrote this, but still. ITs all the excess & madness of a 90s fancy dress party in one room, even down to the balloon drop. ITs fantastic & i love every second of it.

I get the symbolism & the angles & the holiness & purity of it all until certain things happen at different points, but they really are fucking everywhere, we get it Baz we get it. That being said that church where she is at the end of the film, with all those candles is stunning, must have taken for fucking ever to set all of that up.

I also love the contract from the pay thy poverty & the mad chase to get to the church & the score & the noise, to then the silence & the beauty & illumination of the inside. The storm before the calm. Also was no one concerned that he was heading to a tomb that wasnt his own family, they just wanted him arrested.

How long was his banishment for, no one ever actually mentions that. YEs i know he breaks it & then dies, but still. Not even Shakespeare mentions how long hes going to be there for at all.

Verona looks amazing it really does, especially with the sand storm & the different lives happening in amongst this tragedy. its so cleverly done & really does make it feel huge & real & a really big thing thats going down.

All the fights & sparing are so clever & well done & just look so cool & the editing & cinematography & via perspectives are still some of Baz’s best piece of work that he has done.

I know she was coming out of her coma but you could have said his name love. Bloody idiot. I love that final image of the two of them lying in peace on the bed dead & finally with each other. As much as its sad that it took their deaths to unite the two family, its still rather lovely & beautiful.

I mean the narration at the beginning & end on the properly retro tv (as it was even retro in the 90s) is brilliant. That could have easily been forgotten & not done, but it has to end with the iconic lines doesnt it.

So does this review deserve an A like my GSCE almost half a life time ago… maybe… does the film still stand the test of time & deserve an A… It William Fucking Shakespeare ROMEO & JULIET… OF course it does. This is just such an iconic way of telling the story & it doesnt look dated 25 years later.

Put it on for old time sakes people, you wont regret it. You will remember how good a story it is & how well they retell it. Wonderful.