There's a scene early on in Tromeo & Juliet while Juliet dreams. For a few, fleeting seconds, it seems as if it could come out of a Swedish sauna porno. But this is a Troma production, and sex is never without meaning; in this case, Juliet's fear of heterosexual intercourse is the meaning. Juliet reaches to an anonymous man's penis, and pulls it out. Not content to be a regular penis, it must be about a foot--and worse, it has a mouth. This was the moment I knew I loved Tromeo & Juliet. (The moment I knew I liked it was earlier--at the reimagining of the "'Do you bite your thumb at me?' 'I bite my thumb, sir!'" scene. You know the one.)
Tromeo & Juliet makes a mockery of the Bard's work, which is just as I like it. For too long, Shakespeare has remained untouchable: a castle in the air, if you will. Those that are created are often squeaky clean, and produced by those without familiarity with his work. This is not Tromeo & Juliet, by any measure; Tromeo & Juliet is a raunchy, intelligent, meaningful parody.
This was my first time watching a transgressive film--and I don't think it was even particularly transgressive. (I may have a baseline, but I don't have high water mark.) Still, this has caused me to obsessively seek out transgressive films, at risk of life and limb. So, I guess Tromeo & Juliet was pretty good.
Rating: six stars out of six (incredible--or something)
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