Romeo and Juliet
My only love sprung from my only hate!
Too early seen unknown, and known too late!
Prodigious birth of love it is to me,
That I must love a loathed enemy.
Cast and Crew
Directed by
Baz Luhrmann
Writing credits
William Shakespeare (play)
Baz Luhrmann
Craig Pearce
Cast
Edwina Moore .... Anchorwoman
Leonardo DiCaprio .... Romeo
Zak Orth .... Gregory
Claire Danes .... Juliet
Jamie Kennedy .... Sampson
Dash Mihok .... Benvolio
Lupita Ochoa .... Attractive Girl
Gloria Silva .... Nun
Vincent Laresca .... Abra
Carlos Martín Manzo Otálora .... Petruchio
Carolyn Valero .... Middle Age Occupant
Paco Morayta .... Middle Age Occupant
John Leguizamo .... Tybalt
Rodrigo Escandon .... Kid With Toy Gun
Margarita Wynne .... Station Mother
Produced by
Jill Bilcock (associate)
Martin Brown (II) (co-producer)
Baz Luhrmann
Catherine Martin (I) (associate)
Gabriella Martinelli
Awards
Academy Awards, USA 1997
Best Art Direction-Set Decoration: Brigitte Broch, Catherine Martin (I) --Nominated--
Australian Cinematographers Society (Award of Distinction) 1997
Feature Productions Cinema: Donald McAlpine --Won--
Australian Film Institute 1997
Best Foreign Film Award: Baz Luhrmann, Gabriella Martinelli --Nominated--
Berlin Film Festival 1997
Alfred Bauer Award: Baz Luhrmann --Won--
Silver Berlin Bear Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio --Won--
Golden Berlin Bear: Baz Luhrmann --Nominated--
Blockbuster Entertainment Awards 1997
Favorite Actor - Romance: Leonardo DiCaprio --Won--
Favorite Actress - Romance: Claire Danes --Won--
British Academy Awards (BAFTA Film Award) 1997
Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music: Nellee Hooper --Won--
Best Production Design: Catherine Martin (I) --Won--
Best Screenplay - Adapted: Baz Luhrmann, Craig Pearce --Won--
David Lean Award for Direction - Baz Luhrmann --Won--
Best Cinematography: Donald McAlpine --Nominated--
Best Editing: Jill Bilcock --Nominated--
Best Screenplay - Adapted: Craig Pearce --Nominated--
Best Sound: Roger Savage, Gareth Vanderhope, Rob Young --Nominated--
--Nominated--
--Won--
Casting Society of America, USA (Artios) 1997
Best Casting for Feature Film, Drama: David Rubin (III) --Nominated--
European Film Awards 1997
Five Continents Award: Baz Luhrmann - USA --Nominated--
Golden Satellite Awards 1997
Outstanding Art Direction: Catherine Martin (I) --Won--
Outstanding Cinematography: Donald McAlpine --Nominated--
Outstanding Film Editing: Jill Bilcock --Nominated--
Outstanding Original Song: Tim Atack, Des'ree - For the song "Kissing You" performed by Des'ree.
London Critics Circle Awards (ALFS Award) 1997
Actress of the Year: Claire Danes --Won--
Director of the Year: Baz Luhrmann --Nominated--
Film of the Year --Nominated--
MTV Movie Awards 1997
Best Female Performance: Claire Danes --Won--
Best Male Performance: Leonardo DiCaprio --Nominated--
Best Kiss: Claire Danes & Leonardo DiCaprio --Nominated--
Best Movie Song: "Garbage" - For the song "Crush". --Nominated--
Best On-Screen Duo: Claire Danes & Leonardo DiCaprio --Nominated--
Motion Picture Sound Editors, USA (Golden Reel Award) 1998
Best Sound Editing - Music (Foreign & Domestic): Mark Jan Wlodarkiewicz unknown --Nominated--
Leonardo speaks about how he was able to do the emotional scenes...
"I am kind of a happy-go-lucky sort of guy. It's hard to find the stuff to work off of, when I have to do all those emotional scenes. I sort of make make stuff up in my head. I had to do it in Romeo & Juliet more than in any other movie I've done. Usually there are some scenes where you're sort of wrecked and crying but with this movie, I was wrecked and crying most of the time; in a shambles emotionally! Baz would understand that before each of these things, I'd have to have like twenty minutes alone in a corner, where I sort of just visualized horrible things and tried to make myself feel horrible. I remember making up stuff about my family dying......anything horrible I could think of mainly had to do with my parents dying. That's the one thing that could get me going that way!"
According to Leonardo, "Well, it was an interesting character, once I really started getting
into it. You have this preplanned idea of what Romeo is supposed to be---just some fluffy,
romantic type of guy. But then you realize he was a hopeless romantic, and when he meets Juliet,
she says, 'All right, look: if you've got any real balls, you should marry me now, and risk
everything.' So he does.....he risks his whole entire life, his family, everything-----and he marries
this girl, which is such an honorable thing to do if you really believe in love like that, especially
at that age. It's the ultimate love story. It's a masterpiece."
When Leonardo first met Baz Luhrmann to discuss doing the role, he couldn't see himself "running around in tights and waving swords"......but Baz explained to him at that meeting in Australia, that his Romeo & Juliet was going to be completely different. Leonardo says, "He wanted to bring out my Americanisms in all the Shakespeare stuff. He wanted me to be really comfortable and natural with the language, and make it sound almost conversational instead of affected....like the old Shakespearean way, you know? It meant that our Romeo & Juliet was a little more hard-core and a lot cooler. Some people said afterwards, 'You shouldn't mess with Shakespeare, you know, you just can't do that!'.....but Shakespeare was a genius. I'm sure if he were alive he would have been totally behind Baz and what he was trying to do!"
DiCaprio saw the story through the eyes of his audience....he says, "I had that attitude too, at first, but people my age responded to the new look and were attracted by it.."
When the film was
released, it immediately reached number one on Variety magazine's box-office tally. In the UK, Romeo & Juliet became a youth phenomenon with young audiences re-enacting the feuds between the Montagues and the Capulets in the high streets after screenings.
