"Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona (where we lay our scene)
From ancient grudge break new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-crossed lovers take their lives"

So begins Shakespeare's beloved play "Romeo & Juliet," which is celebrating its 400th anniversary this year. These famous lines and the vivid language of this cautionary tale drive director Baz Luhrmann's cinematic interpretation, WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S ROMEO & JULIET. Welcome to Verona Beach, a sexy, violent other-world, neither future nor past, ruled by two rival families, the Montagues and the Capulets. Wealthy, selfish, ruthless and powerful, the parents share an enmity that has become the birthright of their offspring.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S ROMEO & JULIET stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Romeo and Claire Danes as Juliet. DiCaprio made his film debut in "This Boy's Life," and his performance in his next film, "What's Eating Gilbert Grape?," merited an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Other features include "The Basketball Diaries," "The Quick and the Dead," and Agnieska Holland's "Total Eclipse," in which he played the poet Rimbaud. He also can be seen in the screen adaptation of the play "Marvin's Room," opposite Meryl Streep.

Danes won a Golden Globe Award and earned an Emmy nomination for her work on the highly-regarded television drama, "My So-Called Life." She went on to garner praise for her portrayal of the frail, winsome sister, Beth, in Gillian Armstrong's feature film "Little Women." She next starred in Jocelyn Moorhouse's "How To Make An American Quilt," appeared in Jodie Foster's ensemble comedy, "Home For The Holidays," and has a key role in "To Gillian On Her 37th Birthday."

Also starring in WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S ROMEO & JULIET are Brian Dennehy as Romeo's father, Ted Montague; John Leguizamo, as Tybalt, Juliet's cousin and Romeo's sworn enemy; Academy Award-nominee Pete Postlethwaite as Father Laurence; and Paul Sorvino and Diane Venora as the sovereigns of the Capulet empire.

The actors playing the Montague kinsmen, friends and attendants are Jesse Bradford as Balthasar, Jamie Kennedy as Sampson, Dash Mihok as Benvolio, Harold Perrineau as Mercutio and Zak Orth as Gregory. The Capulet counterparts are played by Vincent Laresca as Abra and Carlos Martin Manzo as Petruchio. The Montague matriarch is played by Christina Pickles, and Miriam Margolyes is the Capulet's Nurse. M. Emmet Walsh is featured as the Apothecary, and Vondie Curtis-Hall portrays Captain Prince.

Director Luhrmann adapted the play for the screen with Craig Pearce, with whom he also scripted the hit film "Strictly Ballroom." The producer is Gabriella Martinelli, who produced "M. Butterfly" and co-produced "Naked Lunch," both directed by David Cronenberg; Baz Luhrmann also produces. The co-producer is Martin Brown, who previously worked with Luhrmann on "Strictly Ballroom." Cinematographer is Donald M. McAlpine, A.S.C., whose 45 films include "Nine Months," "Clear and Present Danger," "Mrs. Doubtfire," "My Brilliant Career" and "Breaker Morant."

The film also reunites Luhrmann with such additional "Strictly Ballroom" alumni as production designer Catherine Martin and editor Jill Bilcock. Kym Barrett is the costume designer. The music is by Nellee Hooper, with an additional score by Craig Armstrong and Marius De Vries.

Luhrmann and his creative team earned widespread acclaim with the release of "Strictly Ballroom," a romantic fable set in the colorful, capricious world of ballroom dancing. The independent feature, which marked Luhrmann's debut as a motion picture director, became a stunning critical and box-office success. It ushered in a new wave of Australian filmmaking, from "Muriel's Wedding" to "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert." It also placed the young filmmaker in an enviable position, suddenly vaulting him up Hollywood's "A" list. Deluged with scripts from every major studio, Luhrmann, whose artistic background is dominated by successes in both theater and opera, turned to Shakespeare. (Prior to filming WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S ROMEO & JULIET, Luhrmann mounted the Australian Opera's highly-lauded production of Benjamin Britten's "A Midsummer Night's Dream." This production toured to the prestigious Edinburgh Festival and won the Festival's "Critic's Prize.")

"I've always wanted to do Romeo and Juliet,'" Luhrmann explains. "The themes it explores, the tragedy that is born of a prohibited love in a world of learned hate, is one of those primary myths that appeals to all people. Romeo and Juliet,' like all of Shakespeare's plays, touched everyone, from the street sweeper to the Queen of England. He was a rambunctious, sexy, violent, entertaining storyteller. We're trying to make this movie rambunctious, sexy, violent and entertaining the way Shakespeare might have if he was a filmmaker."

Shakespeare intentionally wrote his plays to appeal to a broad audience. Elizabethan theater-goers, Luhrmann notes, represented all levels of society. Anthony Burgess wrote that the architecture of the playhouse resulted from this multifaceted audience: "The physical structure ... was derived out of the Elizabethan inn, the innyard proving ... to be the most convenient location ... Here, then, was space for the casual groundlings, standing-room only, and, balcony accommodation for the better sort, the ladies and gentlemen staying at the inn." (Shakespeare)

Moreover, Shakespeare's works had to hold the attention of guests in various states of drunkenness, for "play performances encouraged the sale of wine and ale ... the sale of liquid refreshments was a lucrative adjunct to the art." (Burgess, Shakespeare)

Although "Romeo and Juliet" has come to exemplify the ultimate romantic tragedy, there are, in fact, several comedic accents in the play that arose due to the disparate nature of Elizabethan audiences. Luhrmann's movie reflects this mingling of comedy and tragedy.

"We have not shied away from clashing low comedy with high tragedy, which is the style of the play, for it is the low comedy that allows you to embrace the emotions of the piece," Luhrmann observes.

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