Last month, the library's book club read was "Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, at least that was what we were suppose to read. I was surprised by the number of people who wrinkled up their nose at the book or seemed taken a back at having to read it again. Seems many of us have read that little gem while in junior high and it must of scared a good lot of us to pieces, because some were unwilling to venture there again. I am not being totally fair here, over 30 copies of the book checked out to book club members and probably most people read the book or at least give it their best shot.
The thing about Shakespeare is; he's brilliant. I use the term the term "he" loosely here because let's face it Shakespeare may not have written all of those plays and sonnets alone, at least that's what some of the experts say. Where was I? Oh yes, Shakespeare was a genius, witty, deep, humerus, romantic, insightful, a great observer of the human condition. I would guess that most people who claim to, "Not like Shakespeare." have most likely not given the writings a fair shake or had the chance to really understand what was being said. When you get it, you really get it.
For all of those people who didn't finish or start "Romeo and Juliet" don't feel too terribly bad I didn't finish either. I did after all read it in the 9th grade.
What I really wanted to write about was the movie we watched last night for film club.
It was of course "William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet" directed by Baz Luhrmann and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes and in my humble opinion a master piece. The cinematography is breath taking, keep in mind Baz Lurhmann also brought us "Moulin Rouge" (need I say more). In this film you can feel the angst, the heat, the sun beating down, the dirt in wounds. And, this young love is brilliantly conveyed by these two immensely talented actors. When they first meet eyes, through a fish aquarium, my heart skipped a beat (we are talking Leonardo here). Baz Luhrmann did a magnificent job moving "Romeo and Juliet" into a modern urban setting and masterfully keeping the original language. trust me it works.
The cinematographer,Donald McAlpine is clearly a genius and how often do we talk about cinematographers? Not often enough.
But here is my point, I watched this movie about four or five years ago with my kids and I thought it was a great movie then, but last night something hit me.
"Romeo and Juliet" isn't a love story it's a tragedy and while we all supposedly know that; a jolt of lightening hit me and I thought, this is an anti violence or anti hate story. This is a parable of sorts about the tragedy of hate and violence. It is the tale of the tragic loss of innocence in which no one gains a thing. While that has always been perfectly articulated in the text, it never totally hit me until last night.
You might want to watch this movie or maybe even read the book.
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