Director: Alan Brown
Running Time: 94 mins
Certificate: 15
Release Date: April 23rd, 2012
Romeo & Juliet but gone gay in a military academy. That’s what Private Romeo is and it’s just as intriguing yet problematic as that sounds. A group of lads at a military school are studying Shakespeare’s great romantic tragedy. However they don’t leave the Bard’s words behind when the bell rings, with Romeo & Juliet taking over their lives as two of the boys develop a forbidden love. However as rivalries grow this newfound love could develop into full blown tragedy.
It’s certainly an interesting idea, especially as the film keeps Shakespeare’s verse, but there are some major problems. Writer/director Alan Brown has chopped Shakespeare’s text down, added some modern music and social media touches and turned Juliet into a boy, but it never quite feels as if he makes the whole concept work. [Read more…]