Baz Luhrmann's film is a highly successful appropriation of Shakespeare's `Romeo and Juliet'. The film uses modern ideas and filming techniques to develop the story, but the same speech used in the play, is used in the film. Luhrmann has used the original Shakespearean words but occasionally has changed the meaning of particular sentences to give them a modern twist [to mean something not originally meant by Shakespeare]. Luhrmann has taken a modern view on each character, taking the play to the next level and giving them character traits that may only have been hinted at. By putting the same ideas that occur in modern society into the film Luhrmann has made a film that is well appropriated for the modern audience.

Romeo and Juliet is a well known high culture text that is highly valued because it portrays the simple love story with a tragic fate. The...