I wish I could say that Leonardo DiCaprio made this movie what it is...

I never thought I'd say that a Shakespeare play became one of my favorite movies of all time (not to sound like an ignorant, modern-day teen or anything-- I love Shakespeare, of course. But, when thinking about movies, there's always Mean girls and Elf and The parent trap and The Lizzie McGuire movie to consider which top practically everything). Seriously though, This movie is amazing. When we began the Romeo and Juliet unit and the first excited whispers about the about the fact that we would actually be watching a movie in class (as if we've never done that before) began, everyone (or at least every girl (yes, including me)) wanted to know only one thing- "IS IT THE LEONARDO DICAPRIO VERSION?!?!?!?!?!". And when Ms.Robbins told us that no, it was not- it was the Baz Luhrmann version, and that it would not ever (in her class) be referred to as anything but the Baz Luhrmann version, I thought it was just a joke. Just something she established because she was (understandably) sick and tired of thirteen year old girls having panic attacks about how absolutely perfect and exquisite the young Leonardo DiCaprio was everytime he went on screen (especially in those beginning scenes in the sunset/beach/sycamore grove- oh.my.god.). However, along with the many other things that I learned from watching this movie in class, by the end I had come to the realization that that was not at all Ms.Robbin's reason (or at least not her main one) for naming this "The Baz Luhrmann version"-- it was because that man is a creative genius and though he may not be as beautiful as him, he deserves every ounce of credit for this visionary masterpiece.

I wanted to zoom in on one specific thing that may seem a little unimportant but, in reality, adds so much to this movie- color (and when I say color I mean how Luhrmann used color to symbolize, not just the fact that he used it instead of black and white or something). When you're making a movie, you have so much more room for creative-ness and there are so many more visual things that you just physically couldn't have in a play. Baz Luhrmann uses this to his full advantage always and has "creative-movie-things" in practically every single shot+ this shines through especially in his choice of color uses. He chose yellow and blue to represent Montague and Capulet, and if you watch for these colors throughout, it's something that shows up all the time and one of those details that you may never notice, but if you do, you appreciate even more all the thought and work put into this movie and it's intentional craft moves. Color comes up in the backlight they use on characters faces in close-ups, it comes up in backdrops, it comes up in the clothes and the colors of their cars, it comes up in the fish between Romeo and Juliet, it comes up in the church, it comes up really everywhere, and everytime it does, it means something. It's there for a reason. And, even if people don't consciously notice these colors or realize what they represent, I think that having each side and each character on either side being visually affiliated with a color really helps the audience remember and understand each characters strong disposition and opinion and personality even if it's just their brain automatically and unconsciously making that connection.

I think that, in general, people learn a lot more when they do something in school than at home. Maybe it's because they're paying attention or because teachers are there, pointing out smart things. But, either way, it's really remarkable how much more I got out of watching this movie once in school than the millions of times I've seen it at home. It's one of those movies where you know it's beautiful and thought out and special for some reason but, as a thirteen year old not-film-expert, you can't seen to put your finger on specifically what that reason is. It's everything- it's the way that the light hits their faces- a bit sharper for Tybalt and softer for Benvolio, it's the way everything means something. How Romeo and Juliet's meeting foreshadows and represents what their future will be-- on opposite sides of the fish tank, fish of Montague+ Capulet colors and layers of water pushing them apart always. It's the beautiful modern costume party take on the Capulet dinner and how each costume represents it's wearer. It's how he changes the whole ending without adding or taking away a single word. It's how he makes everything fit together, work just right, even hundreds of years later. Watching the movie now that all these things are brought to my attention is overwhelming because every thought I have is "blue there!", "yellow over there!", "close up!", "what.does.it.mean...?". I've never taken a film study class before or even heard anyone talk about it so, maybe this little taste has gotten me anxious and it will soon ware off, but either way, I'm excited. I'm excited that I got so much out of this, and I'm excited to finish dissecting the play, and I'm excited about how I will view the movie when I, inevitably, see it again, and I'm excited that I'm actually excited about this, and I'm really excited to go out and rent all of these.