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Baz Luhrmann

Though he began his career as an actor, director/writer/producer Baz Luhrmann found his flamboyant talent was better served behind the scenes. Born BazMark Luhrmann in a Sydney, Australia, suburb, Luhrmann returned to Sydney after a rural childhood to attend the National Institute of Dramatic Arts. Luhrmann created the original version of what would become his future film debut, Strictly Ballroom (1992), for the stage in 1986. Working with longtime collaborators Craig Pearce and Catherine Martin, Luhrmann brought his vibrant sensibility to film with the cinematic version of Strictly Ballroom. Full of garish colors, exuberant dancing, and ironic yet sincere sentiment, the romantic fable made a splash at the Cannes Film Festival and became an international, prize-winning hit. Luhrmann next worked his postmodern magic on an adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet (1996). As with La Bohème, he re-conceived the story for the 20th century, setting the famed tale of teen love in the candy-colored, Versace-clad milieu of "Verona Beach." With stars Leonardo Di Caprio and Claire Danes delivering Shakespeare's prose as if it were vernacular, an eclectic soundtrack, and editing as kinetic as the Oscar-nominated production design, Romeo + Juliet became a box-office hit.... Next

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