Special Guest Scheduled to Appear
Baz Luhrmann's iconic, candy-coated, pop-culture retelling of the Bard's classic tale. Followed by a Q&A with special guests!
The classic Shakespearean romantic tragedy updated to a post-modern aesthetic: Verona Beach's two rival gangs—the Capulets and the Montagues—run the city as bitter rivals. Juliet (Claire Danes), a Capulet, and Romeo (Leonardo DiCaprio), a Montague, fall into a doomed love affair and their families burn the city around them in a war built on ego and greed. [120 mins; drama, romance; English]
"This glitter bomb of a film explodes the play and builds it back up again... result[ing] in a truly unforgettable cinematic experience." — Yasmin Omar, Harper's Bazaar
"Luhrmann's gleefully cinematic version of the play is so relentlessly inventive and innovative, it takes 20 minutes to get a grasp on how appropriate is his approach to the material." — Geoff Andrew, Time Out
"One of the liveliest Shakespeare adaptaions of the past 20 years." — Andrew Lowry, Total Film
This screening will be followed by a conversation between Prof. Deborah Landis (UCLA) and Prof. Linda Pisano (IU) on the function of costuming in Romeo and Juliet (Zeffirelli, 1968) and Romeo + Juliet (Luhrmann, 1996).
Deborah Nadoolman Landis (Founding Director and Chair, The David C. Copley Center for Costume Design and Distinguished Professor, University of California Los Angeles) is a costume designer and historian. Her distinguished career includes Coming to America (1988), for which she was Academy Award-nominated; An American Werewolf in London (1981); Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981); Animal House (1978); and the costumes for the groundbreaking music video Michael Jackson’s Thriller (1983). She is the author of six books, sits on the Board of the National Film Preservation Foundation, and is a past Governor of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.
Linda Pisano's (Chair, IU Department of Theatre, Drama, and Contemporary Dance) costuming work has covered a broad range of theatre, dance, musical theatre, ballet, and opera and has been featured on stages throughout the United States, Canada, and the UK. She is a four-time winner of the Peggy Ezekiel Award for Excellence in Design, a three-time jury winner in the National Design Expo, and a two-time recipient of the Kennedy Center/ACTF Meritorious Achievement in Costume Design Award.
This program is generously funded by the Roberta and S. James Sherman Inspiring Conversations Fund.
