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Essay on Comparing Opening Sequences of Romeo and Juliet

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Comparing Opening Sequences of Romeo and Juliet

In my essay I am going to compare the opening scenes the two versions of Romeo & Juliet. One is by Franco Zeffirelli, which was made in the late 1970’s. The other one is by Baz Luhrmann and was made in 1996. The Zeffirelli version stars Leonardo Whiting as Romeo and Olivia Hussey as Juliet. This version was more authentic and traditional. It was filmed more in a way Shakespeare would have illusory it. It was set in Italy in fair Verona and was aimed at the older generation.

The complete contrast of this is the Luhrmann’s version. It is a modern day film set in Los Angeles. This film starred Leonardo Di Caprio as Romeo and Clare Danes as …show more content…

Whilst the fight is going, it gets very hard for the audience to recognise as to who is a Montague or a Capulet. Zeffirelli has not shown the fight as dangerous and serious as it should be. It gives humour to the audience when people are throwing cabbages at each other during the fight.

The other side of the coin is the Luhrmann’s version. It also begins with a prologue, but only this time, it is broadcast in the news. The news broadcast makes the audience very passionate about the film right in the beginning, which will keep them at the edge of their seats. Luhrmann shows the Montague boys stop at a gas station where they come face to face with the Capulets. One of the Capulet Abra shouts, “Boo” which scares a Montague boy. As revenge, a Montague boy bites his thumb at them. This makes the Capulet very angry and both of them start shooting at each other. Benvolio and Tybalt join in as well. At the end, Tybalt drops his cigar on the ground where petrol was spilled accidentally. This leads up to a huge fire. Soon the police chief arrives in a helicopter and stops the fight when Benvolio and Tybalt have their guns pointed at each other’s head.

Luhrmann’s version is much realistic in a modern day world. Unlike Zeffirelli, Luhrmann introduces the main characters to the audience. Luhrmann shows how the

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