Roméo & Juliette

This might be the same Shakespeare story we all know and love, but the adaptation is both new and, some might think, peculiar. It is, like the original, a story of impossible love between two very young people. Roméo (Thomas Lalonde) is the son of the leader of a notorious biker gang, played by Gilles Renaud. The object of his affection, Juliette (Charlotte Aubin), is a coed who is studying medicine. She is also the only daughter of a judge (Pierre Curzi) who sits on the bench of the Québec Superior Court. By the way, the production team held auditions and after seeing some 10-thousand people gave the title roles to two newcomers. Lalonde was all of 16, and Charlotte Aubin was just 14 years old. Young and inexperienced, they were asked to carry some fairly hefty scenes. For example the film contains several long and almost silent love scenes. The director, Yves Desgagnés, has been quoted as saying he needed “…a naivety, an innocence. A diamond in a rough state, with its brightness and its imperfections.” If you know the original story, then you know how it all ends, but like the rest of the film the situation and methods in this version have been contemporized.