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Baz Luhrmann's Presentation of Romeo and Juliet to a Modern Audience

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Baz Luhrmann's Presentation of Romeo and Juliet to a Modern Audience In this essay, I will be comparing the way the 400 years old William Shakespeare's film Romeo and Juliet was transformed by Baz luharmann for the understanding of the modern audience. Romeo and Juliet was written by William Shakespeare 400 years ago. In the past plays were acted in the theatre. The plays were totally different from the way they are now. The theatre had a stage where the play was to be acted; this had an entrance and an exit. There was no lighting and no scenery; there was also a balcony on the first floor where some scenes were acted. Below the stage was where the audience stood to watch the play. There were …show more content…

The film starts with a television set and a newscaster reading the news. This is the way the prologue is first presented. She talks about the setting 'in fair Verona, where we lay our scene', she talks about the main story and characters in this quotation 'two households both alike in dignity' and she also says short statements which are a brief summary of the play. At the top right corner of the screen there is a picture of a broken ring and below it are these words; 'star crossed lovers'. This illustrates that there is love and a broken relationship between two lovers in the film. Also the broken ring suggests that the lovers' relationship will be but a short one as it is destined to end in tragedy. Also there is dramatic operatic music at the background; it suggests the film will most likely be a tragedy as is often seen in grand operas. The Prologue is delivered again. This is very different from the first time; it contains flashes of scenes in the film/ informative clips. This prologue has a voiceover of Friar. He is the perfect person for this job because he knows the story from the start to the end. The clips are very informative. The two towers with the names MONTAGUE AND CAPULET suggest wealth and probably business rivalry, which a modern audience would understand. It also shows they are both well-to-do families. We can also say they are of the same status:

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