Summary

Thirty years ago, Baz Luhrmann gave Shakespeare guns, Hawaiian shirts and a killer soundtrack — and turned Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes into movie stars. Coming off his 1992 debut, Strictly Ballroom , Luhrmann delivered a modern Romeo + Juliet , with the Bard’s dialogue transplanted to present-day Verona Beach, where the Montagues and Capulets were rival, gun-toting dynasties. Luhrmann spotted a magazine photo of 19-year-old DiCaprio, then an Oscar nominee for What’s Eating Gilbert Grape , and saw his Romeo.

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