shakespeare's romeo and juliet leonardo dicaprio

And then Baz sent it to Leonardo and to Fox, and they decided to give us small amounts of money to start building up to the project that we wanted to do. First, we made a short film with actors from Sydney in an abandoned lot-we dressed up our friends and shot the Mercutio death scene. Kym Barrett: Catherine and Baz and I all went to NIDA in Sydney, so we already had that common ground. (The latter style in particular has never been far from a menswear catwalk over the last 25 years.) From Mercutio’s glitzy lingerie set and cape as he belted out “Young Hearts Run Free” at the Capulet party, to Juliet’s ethereal angel wings, to the flaming sacred heart on the Hawaiian shirt worn by Romeo in the opening scenes on Verona Beach, these are looks that haven’t just become a part of cinematic history, but fashion history too.

Yes, there was its iconic soundtrack-Des’ree’s “I’m Kissing You” remains the ultimate karaoke tearjerker-but also the flamboyant costuming. At the center of it all were two career-defining performances from a young Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes as the star-crossed lovers, their mesmerizing chemistry making for a love story that has stayed in the hearts of millennials ever since.ĭiCaprio and Danes weren’t the only reasons the film became such a cult classic, however. The Australian auteur’s kaleidoscopic reimagining of Shakespeare’s classic romance, Romeo + Juliet, was a brash thrill ride through the streets of some combination of Venice Beach, Mexico City, and Miami, populated by god-fearing gangsters and glamazons. Twenty-five years ago, Baz Luhrmann laid his scene in fair Verona-and it was like nothing we’d ever seen before.

Shakespeare's romeo and juliet leonardo dicaprio