Movie Crush Monday: CT & Romeo + Juliet

So as you read this, Little C and I are in Las Vegas, taking a mini Spring Break trip with our oldest sister. We have walked and walked and people watched some of the strangest people in the whole world all day and now we've retreated back to our hotel.  So let's take a brief break to talk about our Movie Crush this week, Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet. 

We're following (finally) Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio from Inception back in time to one of his first few film roles. I saw this movie when I was probably way too young, but it means that it's had a special place in my heart for a long time. When I rewatched it recently, I was struck all over again by how absolutely gorgeous this movie is. Luhrmann's vision for production design is almost unmatched. He's taken this centuries-old story and updated it to modern (1990's) Southern California, but he has such a creative eye that it becomes a whole new world. 

You can't really talk about this film without paying respect to the beautiful performances by an all-star cast. Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes were so young, but they just blow this movie apart. I have to admit that I'm not huge into the Romeo and Juliet story. It's just been done so many times that it's hard to feel a lot watching it. But they bring so much passion to the parts that it all feels fresh. And they manage to straddle the line between the modern setting and the old language in a gorgeous way. 

Hands down, my favorite part of the movie is a teeny tiny moment when Romeo is about to kill Tybalt. DiCaprio is mourning the death of Mercutio and he tells Tybalt, "Either you or I or both must follow him." He says it three times, and over the course of the lines you can see the character transition from grief to rage. It's one of the best acted and directed scenes I've ever seen. 

I don't know what else to say about this movie except that it's awesome. It's weird because normally I can spout out a thesis about it. I'm going to blame Spring Break brain. It's a wonder I got it together to write at all. We'll give credit for that to Baz and his gorgeous, gorgeous sets. 

Happy Watching!

CT