SHAKESPEARE

Alternative title

Tromeo and Juliet

Synopsis

A low-budget, punk rock, exploitation, B film based on Romeo and Juliet and set in modern Manhattan. Filmed in Troma style with much gratuituous violence, it exhibits a healthy disregard for taste and comes with a mission to offend. Cappy Capulet and Monty Que are business partners in a pornographic film deal. Mrs Que has an affair with Cappy and marries him, bearing Juliet. Tromeo was born as a result of the affair. Cappy’s wife eventually tells Romeo that Juliet is his sister but they marry anyway and bring up deformed children in Tromaville. Mercutio is gay, the Nurse is a tattoed lesbian, Cappy pursues Juliet, and Father Lawrence has a penchant for small boys which prompts him to add decapitation and nipple piercing to his skills. Spoken in iambic pentameters.

Language

English

Country

United States

Medium

Film

Technical information

Colour / Sound

Year of release

1996

Duration

107 mins; 9,642 feet

Credits

Director

James Gunn; Lloyd Kaufmann

Producer

Lloyd Kaufmann; Michael Herz

Cinematographer

Brendan Flynt

Screenplay

Jason Green; Lloyd Kaufmann

Art Direction

Hannah Moseley

Cast

Will Keenan	Tromeo Que (Romeo)
Jane Jenson	Juliet Capulet (Juliet)
Valentine Miele	Murray Martini (Mercutio)
Flip Brown	Father Lawrence (Friar Laurence)
Debbie Rochon	Ness (Nurse)
Earl McKoy	Monty Que (Lady Montague)
Lemmy	Narrator (Chorus)
Maxiimillian Shaun	Cappy Capulet (Capulet)
Steve Gibbons	London Arbuckle (Paris)

Additional Details

Production type

Fiction Films

Plays

Romeo and Juliet

Subjects

Drama

Keywords

homosexuality; Shakespeare, William (1564-1616); Gay and lesbian interpretations

Notes

Notes

Estimated budget $350,000. DVD extras include theatrical trailer, detailed director’s commentary and a special message from Lemmy of Motorhead. DVD version 90 mins. The limited edition of the DVD issued for the 10th anniversary of the film includes 4 audio commentaries (the original commentary, one recently recovered vintage commentary, and two new ones) - featuring writer James Gunn, director Lloyd Kaufman, actor Sean Gunn, editor Frank Reynolds, and Troma staff editor Gabriel Friedman. 2 hours of new interviews with crew and cast members, including Debbie Rochon, Tiffany Shepis, Sean Gunn, Stephen Blackehart, Valentine Miele, and Lemmy (from Motorhead). Deleted Scenes, include Ron Jeremy’s missing scene and a new featurette of James and Lloyd commenting on the missing scenes.
Recently discovered rehearsal footage of Jane Jensen and Debbie Rochon. Fan re-enactments of scenes from the film. ‘Where For Art Thou Now?' - A special update on what the surviving characters from the film are up to 10 years later.

General

The tagline from the film is ‘Body-piercing, kinky sex, dismemberment. The things that make Shakespeare great’.

Reviews

Reviewed by Kim Newman in Sight and Sound,vol.6, no. 12 December 1996, p. 94. An assessment of the role of the film (and Shakespeare) in popular culture is offered in ‘Will of the People: Recent Shakespeare Film Parody and the Politics of Popularization’ by Douglas Lanier in A Concise Companion to Shakespeare on Screen’ edited by Diana E. Henderson (Oxford: Blackwell, 2006).

Production Company

Name

Troma Films

Email

distribution@rykogroup.com

Web

http://www.tromateamvideo.com External site opens in new window

Phone

1-800-Troma-14

Fax

212-957-4497

Address

Troma Team Video
733 Ninth Avenue
New York
NY 10019, USA

Notes

Suppliers to retailers only.

Distributor

Name

Troma Team Video

Online Retailer

Name

amazon.com

Web

http://www.amazon.com External site opens in new window