Romeu & Romeu: Part One

How did I only recently come across this overlooked gem?NOTE: I posted an Amazon review Dec 26, 2019, of the Prime Video streaming version, which I would have thought Amazon would cross-post as a review under the "Part 1" and "Part 2" DVDs, which together are identical to the full "Season 1" (the only season of the series), but apparently not. So I am re-posting this review myself under both DVDs. I have purchased both DVDs, along with a Dekkoo subscription on Prime largely in order to be able to watch this wonderful series!A Brazilian web series that premiered on YouTube in 2016, this is a passionate recasting of Shakespeare's "Romeo & Juliet" with two young men in the leading roles. It's only loosely "inspired" by the original play, so (no spoilers) let's just say don't assume anything will be exactly the same. As Romulo (the "Juliet" character) says in a suitably self-referential moment: "This is not Shakespeare." But it has serious ambitions of its own, and succeeds brilliantly for the most part. The screenplay (much of which is not just borrowed from Shakespeare, but very well-written on its own) is deeply intelligent, witty, substantive, and usually just surprising enough to keep you off-balance and craving the next scene. It's suffused with all the passion, comedy, tragedy, and melodrama you'd expect in a Latin American film (the Bard translates well into the "telenovela" framework, it seems), with plenty of conflict between siblings, friends, parents and children, as well as between the star-crossed lovers (who are utterly, utterly adorable).And all narrated periodically, in a perfectly sassy touch, by a fabulous chorus of drag queens! If the plot gets too complicated for its own good at times, it powers through with authentic feeling. It's wildly romantic, and very sexy (in a relaxed Brazilian way, yet could easily fit within a PG-13 American film rating).All in all, it's simply exhilarating. It is somewhat comparable to the American gay indie comedy "Were the World Mine" (2008) (a not-to-be-missed spoof on Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream"), but in many ways "Romeu & Romeu" is better, more serious, more substantive, and more ambitious.Btw, the 1-star review posted here is completely idiotic. The entire series runs more than 4 hours, so it's perfectly justifiable to put it on 2 DVD discs. The price is reasonable. Films like this don't get made for free or by magic! Writers, artists, actors, and producers need to make a living! How about focusing reviews on actual content?

I found this gem as a response to my search for gay-themed movies form Brazil. I have been impressed with the quality of gay-themed films from Brazil and Argentina.This movie/web series caught me by surprise and blew me away with the quality of writing, editing and acting. Another review on this site states it as well or better than I can: “The screenplay is deeply intelligent, witty, substantive, and usually surprising enough to keep you off-balance and craving the next scene.”I was even more impressed when I looked up this movie on the IMDb website and found out that the estimated budget for the production was 5,000 Brazilian Real – the U.S. equivalent of $955 – an almost miraculous accomplishment!The plot follows Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” quite closely, but the story stands on its own extremely well. It also has perfectly placed comedic elements and even its own “Greek Chorus” of drag queens. This is the best adaptation or movie inspired by a Shakespeare play that I have seen.Overall, the acting is very good. There is good chemistry between the lead characters and they become the people that they are portraying. This series gives depth to some of the supporting characters, each of whom has their own subplot/storyline. The supporting actors portraying these roles also do a good job.In closing, I highly recommend watching and buying Romeu & Romeu, Parts 1 & 2. It is the best money I have spent in a long time for a gay-themed movie.

The story is a great story. The actors are really good. The dvd is okay. I give one star because it has only five episodes of the first season's ten episodes. The dvd was 25.00 so I would have to pay another 25.00 for the second five episodes.. Greed trying to rip us off. They could have put all ten episodes on the one dvd. They are not that long. You can watch all 10 episodes elsewhere for a fifth of the cost of buying them on dvd as I found out after.

liked it

I avoided this for the longest time thinking that I really don't want to see another lame retelling of "Romeo & Juliet." This was surprisingly fresh and quite engaging. Although you "kinda" know the story ...this keeps you guessing and thinking that perhaps you don't know what is going to happen.Acting could have been stronger, but overall, a GREAT take on the Shakespeare's classic. Only thing I didn't care for were the drag queens; they seemed out of place here and felt they simply interrupted the story (like a commercial) ...but they play a minor role and I assume they left this in hoping the film felt more like "Shakespeare."