The 5 most curious films inspired by Romeo and Juliet
Who does not know the myth of Romeo and Juliet? Everyone has heard, at least once in their life, about the heartbreaking love story involving these two young lovers. William Shakespeare is undoubtedly one of the most famous authors on the planet and among his tragedies, this remains one of the best known ever. Thus it becomes very easy, over the centuries, to find it mentioned everywhere, both in print and in television and cinema. Among novels, books and films… a recent example of this we have with Rosaline, a film released on October 14th on Disney Plus. | cinema of Romeo and Juliet. The goal is to give an idea of the possibilities and peaks, even completely unexpected ones, that a myth like this can reach over the centuries.
An interesting trait, also of Romeo and Juliet, remains the very identity of a story that is in fact very distant from our time and in any case current in some of its themes. Demonstrating the immortality of its original author once again, and also opening the way to all those subsequent reinterpretations that have not touched too much the starting narrative material, trying to rework all the other elements (aesthetics, costumes, setting), while still keeping firmly close to the narrative roots of the narrative.| ); }
The 5 most curious films inspired by Romeo and Juliet
Romeo + Juliet by William Shakespeare Shakespeare in Love Romeo must die Gnomeo and Juliet The lion king II - The reign of SimbaRomeo + Juliet by William Shakespeare
1996 film directed by Baz Luhrman, unmissable in a list of the 5 most curious variations in Romeo and Juliet cinema. At the time of its release it had a lot of success and sensation, to the point that it was nominated for an Academy Award for the best scenography of the time. In this story the director takes the myth we all know and simply reworks it in a postmodern key. The main events are therefore set in the 90s, and instead of being in Italy in Verona, the protagonists are in Los Angeles in a neighborhood invented ad oc by the name of Verona Beach (which obviously echoes the real Venice Beach ). In such a context, we will not have two rival families competing for power and territory, but two local gangs, with all the appropriate sidearms and horses replaced by guns and shiny cars. Then we find the Montecchi (Montague) and the Capulets (Capulet) ready to do anything to bring their vision of conquest to fruition, followed by Prince Escalus who instead of being Prince of Verona is the head of the Verona Beach Police district. >In all this we find the love story that is the title of the film, with Romeo (Leonardo di Caprio) and Juliet (Clare Danes) who meet in the most classic of ways, swearing eternal love. One of the most curious traits of this cinematographic transposition, going beyond its aesthetics, lies in its language. In perfect contrast to the general modernity, in fact, all the characters speak and express themselves using the English of the original work, creating a continuous encounter-clash of style that curiously works. The director does not limit himself, therefore, to transplanting the original story into the modernity of the 90s, but re-elaborates its values and individual characters, without ever going to touch their language, rather framing their every development with his typical sumptuous touch, later also developed in all of his subsequent films. William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet is currently available on Disney Plus.
Shakespeare in Love
One cannot appreciate the myth of Romeo and Juliet without having ever seen Shakespeare in Lov and hence the obligation to include it in this list of the 5 most curious variations that involve them in cinema. Directed by John Madden and released in 1998, Shakespeare in Love shifts its attention to the author of the myth himself, to the proponent of the legendary tragedy that we all know and continue to name and study. We are in London in 1953, a golden period for English theater and very particular due to some dynamics that we could define as mandatory, within this world that was predominantly male at the time. Here we meet the legend William Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes) in person, finding him busy writing a new work set in the world of pirates and piracy. The various internal diatribes in his sector and the intense competition will lead the author to a real crisis of inspiration, a creative block in search of new stimuli that will rekindle him again. At this point in the story, Lady Viola de Lesseps (Gwyneth Paltrow) comes into play, a woman madly in love with the theater of the time (almost a direct projection of the spectator himself, in a certain sense), to the point of dressing up as a man in order to enter to be part of that world (remember that at the time women were not allowed to act, with men playing every role available on stage).The love for Romeo and Juliet is also accompanied by a certain passion for its author and his time, that Elizabethan England of which we have read and heard so much over the centuries and from which they arose some of the immortal stories and legends that still color our existence today. Shakespeare in Love is currently available on NOW.
Romeo must die
An action film filled with violence, betrayal, explosions and spectacular scenes that draws its inspiration from the myth of Romeo and Juliet, can not be missing from a list of the 5 most curious variations of the couple in cinema. Directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak and released in theaters in 2000, Romeo must die is one of those stories that many have forgotten over the years (and not surprisingly), but which immediately comes back to the minds of those who frequented cinemas in those years . One of the greatest merits of this film was precisely that of making Jet Li, its protagonist, known to the general public, spreading his name also in the West, and bringing him to the following films of his career.Romeo must die finds its setting in the city of Oakland. The city's illegal trafficking, a million-dollar business, is controlled and disputed by two rival clans, two families that we have always found fighting with each other: on the one hand we have Asians and on the other we have African Americans. During this war for power, the son of the Asian clan leader loses his life in a sudden and mysterious way. Thus the elder brother Han (Jet Li), a master in martial arts, driven by anger, will escape from the prison where he is held in China with the sole aim of avenging the disappearance of his little brother. In the course of his journey of revenge, however, Han encounters the character of Trish (Aaliyah), daughter of the rival clan boss, with whom he will collaborate in his search for the truth, coming to build a bond with her. br>
Romeo must die takes, very distantly, some dynamics present in the whole of Shakespearean work and re-elaborates them in a film in which violence, shootings, explosions and betrayals are central in all respects. A real action film son of his time, in which there is both hatred and impossible love, permeated by suffering in the perennial search for answers. Romeo must die is available on Tim Vision.
Gnomeo and Juliet
As we have seen so far, the creative possibilities around Romeo and Juliet have always been manifold, outlining some variations that with the next film on our list of their 5 most curious variations in cinema, will arrive in a whole new dimension. Gnomeo and Juliet is a 2011 animated film, directed by Kelly Asbury. At the center of its history we find two gardens, one managed by Mr. Capuleti and the other by Mrs. Montecchi. These two are in constant competition with each other in the decorative field, constantly buying new garden decorations to prevail over the other. This same hatred and competition will reflect on the items they have purchased over the years, spawning two distinct factions of garden gnomes who loathe each other. These two are distinguished from each other by the colors of their hats, red on one side and blue on the other. The situation will worsen when their respective children, Gnomeo and Juliet, fall in love, starting a series of clashes between the two groups ready to do anything to keep them together.The idea behind this animated film is also cute and original, while almost immediately taking an extremely classic turn from the point of view of narrative developments. However, it remains curious to enter the perspective of these protagonists (who are very reminiscent of the most classic works of Pixar), and in a world that draws fully from the original story by reworking it with funny and sometimes eccentric ideas. You can retrieve Gnomeo and Juliet on Disney Plus.
The Lion King II - Simba's Pride
As this is a list of the 5 most curious Romeo and Juliet variations in cinema, you shouldn't expect absolutely the most classic movies about these two. The Lion King II - Simba's Kingdom was released in theaters in 1998, directed by Darrell Rooney and Bob LaDuca. As for its predecessor, this too is inspired by a Shakespearean work, reworking everything in a personal key (we are obviously talking about the aforementioned tragedy of love). The story opens with the birth of Kiara, the daughter of a much more mature Simba than in the past, now in the role of king that he was entitled to since childhood. Her is a peaceful kingdom, even if within the community of lions we find a deep rift between those alongside her and those who remained loyal to the late Scar. The latter have been exiled to No Man's Lands taking the name of Forsaken.One day Kiara runs into, by pure chance, another little lion of her same age as her. Kovu. The two bond, laying the foundations of a probable friendship immediately interrupted by the intervention of Simba and Zira, the lion's mother, who declares that years before Kovu had been designated by Scar himself as his heir.
Da all this apparently impossible relationship between the two lenocini, hampered by the world of adults and by the aims of a mother who would do anything to claim the throne lost by her herd long ago, even use her son to carry out a murder. Find The Lion King II - Simba's Pride on Disney Plus.
