The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 13.1633  Monday, 15 July 2002

From:           Mike Jensen <
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Date:           Friday, 12 Jul 2002 09:06:50 -0700
Subject:        Luhrmann, R+J, and George Lucas

Those who insist that Baz Luhrmann didn't like using Shakespeare's
dialogue in his film version of *R+J* might want to see the 12 July San
Francisco Chronicle.  There is a report of his local after dinner speech
here:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/07/12/DD218061.DTL

Here are the relevant paragraphs.

>>>The Australian repeatedly expressed his gratitude to George Lucas, with whom he'd spent the day at Lucas' Marin County headquarters...

In response to the hostess' post-dinner welcome, Luhrmann recalled
spending some time doing post-production work on "Romeo and Juliet" at
Lucas' Skywalker Ranch seven years ago. He'd gone there at a time he was
particularly worried about the movie, he said, when Hollywood thinkers
were telling him, for example, that it might be a good idea if he cut
out most of the Shakespearean dialogue.

At the ranch, he said, he found a place to work, a nurturing environment
and a way to complete the movie. Returning to the Bay Area, he said,
made him feel he'd come full cycle.<<<

And with that, I'm off for Santa Cruz,
Mike Jensen

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