Two households both alike in dignity

(In fair Verona where we lay our scene)

From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,

Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.

Ah, the first lines of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet." The tragic love story read many times is back again with a twist. Director/writer/producer Baz Luhrmann brings us a different approach and a unique interpretation of William Shakespeare's romantic t ragedy.

Set in a modern Miami-like town called Verona, this film brings aspects of our current society and cultural diversity and incorporates them into Shakespeare's original text. It's much like taking a song composed by an artist in the 1920s and rearranging t he tempo and style and playing it at a disco, all without changing the lyrics. The meaning stays the same, but it appeals to a different crowd.

The theaters have been packed with a generation that wouldn't be likely to dedicate time to sit and read a Shakespeare play. I don't think the Elizabethan vernacular distracted from the overall impact of the film. In fact, in the bizarre atmosphere of the movie, this "modern world," produced an environment that only helped make it easier for contemporary audiences to understand the language. Within the first 15 minutes you become so absorbed in the movie that Shakespeare's text doesn't hinder the rhythm o f the film.

This film took a tremendous leap forward. Modernizing Shakespeare? In general, "Romeo and Juliet" has many traditional rules attached to it. English accents and Elizabethan styles of dress typically pop into mind. The image of the characters and settings are established by previous expectations. Why produce a film that has been done before? This modern film creates and brings out a fresh and more liberal version of the play. With American accents and conversational tones these Shakespearean characters ide ntify closer with contemporary audiences.

Playing the parts of Romeo and Juliet were Leonardo DiCaprio ("The Basketball Diaries," "What's Eating Gilbert Grape") and Claire Danes ("My So-Called Life," "Little Women"). The role was offered to DiCaprio after working a week with Luhrmann in Australia workshopping the role. Discovering Juliet was more of a challenge. After an enormous world-wide search for the perfect Juliet, Danes was chosen to play the part. The 16-year old angelic actress proved to be the best for the role. Both DiCaprio and Danes pulled off an amazing job. The tendency to over dramatize Shakespeare did not consume the two actors. As the sets and characters around them took on a more colorful personality, Romeo and Juliet remained simple and perfect.

Stories of love and hate will always be around. It is not limited to only one period; Shakespeare's play can be applied to any point in time, past, present, or future. In this movie, Luhrmann does just this. He takes the tragic story of love and wonderful ly decorates it with his own style, in his choice of time. This fresh new interpretation will never replace the traditional Shakespeare performance, but it definitely proves that visions and interpretations of writers will never parallel those of the perf ormers, directors, or viewers.

Although everything in the movie is in the play, violence, murder, lust, love, poison, drugs, this movie will not satisfy the needs of traditional Shakespeare fans. It's definitely a movie that stands out from the other mainstream Hollywood films. For the re never was a story of more woe than of Juliet and her Romeo.

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