IndieWeb Movie Club: February 2025 - Romeo + Juliet
This post is my actual entry for IndieWeb Movie Club #006.
Mark is hosting this month's IndieWeb Movie Club and there are still a little time if you are interested in watching any of the many adaptations of Romeo and Juliet.
I watched the following three films for this month's movie club:
Rewatched Romeo + Juliet, 1996 - ★★★★
Romeo + Juliet (1996)
This has been on my "to rewatch" list for a long time but I kept putting it off as I didn't want the memory of a movie I remember liking to be ruined. Luckily, this movie still holds up to me.
The second half of the film kinda drags on a bit I kinda wish it had a bit more of the "flair" that
the first half does, but this might just be my bias because I always loved Harold Perrineau's
performance as Mercutio and
Before this movie club, this was the only version of Romeo and Juliet I had ever seen so this has always been my point of reference for this story.
Watched Die in a Gunfight, 2021 - ★
Die in a Gunfight (2021)
I don't even know where to begin with this one. I found this movie in some list after searching for "List of movies based on Romeo and Juliet" and only watched it because I didn't see it on any other list. Maybe this was a hidden gem and I was about to unearth the greatest adaptation of Romeo and Juliet in modern cinema history.
This felt like it was trying to parody the Romeo and Juliet story and Baz Luhrmann's adaptation. It was uncomfortable to watch and I don't know if I would consider this even a loose adaptation of the original story as the only thing it really shares is the two big families not wanting their kids together.
There is a neat animation to tell the prologue and some of the sets and outfits really are beautiful to see.
Watched Romeo & Juliet, 2021 - ★
Romeo & Juliet (2021)
This film was a complete surprise to me. I chose it because I wanted to see a stage adaptation and the fact that this was filmed the way it was in the middle of a global pandemic is kind amazing. The way this film transitions from stage to the bigger film sets gives it a sense of magic that adds so much to this adaptation.
Not to discredit the other films I watched here, but this was the only version of the three where I actually believed the characters fell in love as quick and as strong as they did.
I think if I'm pointing anyone to a Romeo and Juliet adaptation, this would probably be it for me.
Final thoughts
How does this story get to tell us how it ends 2 seconds in and I'm still hoping it doesn't end that way? What if Romeo waited an extra minute? What if he had heard of Juliet's plan? What if their parents weren't enemies? What if...