September 4, 2008: Romeo+Juliet

One of the most emotionally provocative scenes in Luhrmann’s Romeo+Juliet is the scene where Romeo confronts Tybalt at the fountain and kills him. Leonardo does a great job of moving flawlessly through Romeo’s rapidly changing emotions. When he first comes after Tybalt after Mercutio’s death, Romeo is furious. Leonardo shows it the most in his face; his eyes, brimming with tears, are narrowed in anger and he bares his teeth at Tybalt like an animal. He literally screams his lines and his voice sounds raw from overuse. When he does shoot Tybalt, that fury is brought up a notch. His eyes look like they’re closed, but when the camera zooms in on his face, you can see the tiny slit of his blue eyes and the tears that are blurring his vision. He screams the whole time he is shooting, the sound ragged, angry, and yet sad at the same time. All the rage, all the regret he is feeling comes out through that scream. When Tybalt finally falls dead into the fountain, Leonardo’s whole person changes drastically. His teary eyes open wide and you can see the shock and confusion all over his face. Now done screaming, his mouth hangs slightly open; his nostrils flare as he breaths heavily. He blinks slowly, as if trying to understand the situation. A single tear slowly slides down his cheek. Leonardo looks away and the camera pans down to his hand where the gun slowly slides out of his grip and to the ground. Now past the rage he felt before, the situation is bearing down on him. Leonardo’s facial expressions reflect his character’s astonishment and almost detachment from his actions.