The evening brought me Romeo + Juliet, the 1996 movie made from Shakespeare’s play. I wanted to write in the sixteenth century english the whole film is in, but i couldn’t. It’s sometimes not easy to understand at all, but to reproduce it, far exceeds my english knowledge. In the first moments i was a bit surprised that i could hardly understand a sentence (naturally later i got used to it), but as soon as the Capulet’s car rolled on stage at the petrol station i realised that this movie features the very original text–well, almost: Wikipedia lists a couple of changes, such as editing down the text for “modern audiences”, but still it was a unique experience, somewhat like the first few scenes of Dead Poets Society. The acting was great, the screenplay too, and just everything worked out so well–except for one thing, naturally (won’t specify). To be honest, this was my first meeting with Romeo and Juliet–i haven’t read it, seen it or heard it before this time–and it was a charming introduction… I wish i’d seen this before i wrote that remake of Romeo and Juliet–i’d have done it very differently, i think: first of all, i would’ve taken the time to write it in verse.
