Meh. 4/10
I don’t really know what to think about the Romeo and Juliet film. On the one hand, I like how it’s designed, and the set, but on the other hand I really don’t like the costumes and characters. I’ll explain a bit more ; First, it was very difficult for me to understand the backgrounds of each character, and although yes, I acknowledge that it isn’t a film about all the characters history, I feel that there should have been more context to each person in the film. Also, some of the characters in the film kind of tick me off? For instance, Juliet’s dad. I don’t like the idea of arranged marriage, and even though it may have been normal at the time, it was not a good first impression. Second, I don’t like how horrible he was to his daughter in the end, and how dramatic he was being about Juliet not wanting to marry Paris. I get the idea of wanting to marry your daughter off for whatever reasons you may choose, but it actually isn’t that big of a deal if you’re well known and your daughter doesn’t like the suitor, just find another one. Better yet, let her choose! But instead of being logical he throws a fit, threatens to disown his daughter, and throws her across the room. If a dad did that today he would get charged with assault and possibly battery, as well as possible jail time for giving your 14 YEAR OLD daughter to a practical man. What is wrong with you? Anyway, the next character I don’t really like is Juliet’s mom. Have you ever seen someone being bullied, and watched someone else just stand there and not help? That’s what I thought of when I was watching Juliet’s mom. First, she barely knows her daughter, and doesn’t listen to her either. When Juliet is crying she literally has no idea what to do with herself, and makes the nurse help her. Do you have no compassion? Are you so annoyed with your daughter that when she is sobbing you won’t even TRY to comfort her because you are holding a grudge? Did you want to be a mother? The other thing is that she is kind of a coward. If I had a spouse who was abusing my daughter mentally and even physically, I would be furious. But instead of rage at her husband, she blames her daughter and refuses to look at her, and takes her husband’s side. Was she afraid of being abused herself if she spoke out? Did she just not care? This was unclear, and the whole scene where she gets mad at her daughter just made me mad, which stinks cause I don’t like being mad. Who does? Okay so I’m running out of words I can use so I may go over 500 but that just shows how engaged I was! Despite the fact that I really, REALLY did not like some of the characters, I did like the set they put together for the film, specifically the homes. When I travelled to Italy last summer I saw houses and museums that had the same feel, so it felt kind of nostalgic to watch.
Last thing I promise…
Did you know when you die, your eyes actually stay open? When you die, your muscles stop controlling your eyelids, making it so your eyes automatically open. In most films they do not show this with passed people because they think its too creepy or the actors eyes will dry out. But in the film, when Juliet is the crypt thingy, Juliets eyes are closed, like she is sleeping (which she is!) and Romeo looks at her and just decides she’s dead. Shine a light in her eye to see if her pupil responds, or just check her eyes how about! But oh noooo, you just had to start crying and drink rat poison didn’t you Romeo? I’m very disappointed in the lack of medical and common sense knowledge in the film.
That’s it.