Comparing Romeo And Juliet 1996 To Zeffirelli's

Baz Luhrmann's 1996 film, Romeo + Juliet effectively appropriates the Shakespearean 16th century love tragedy. So why has Luhrmann decided to appropriate Romeo and Juliet? By changing the context, Luhrmann effectively makes the play relevant, discussing his contextual concerns of the 1990’s. This is done through the use of themes in the film, love, family disputes and hate which have remained similar to the original play, although the way they have been presented are different, in particular the form and characters. The form has had an obvious change as the original play has been adapted into a film. Characters in the film have also been appropriated to correspond with Luhrmann's contextual concerns. Hence, Luhrmann successfully appropriates the original Shakespeare play, Romeo and Juliet by maintaining similar themes, but altering the form and characterisation to fit his contextual concerns.

     There are many similarities and differences between the sixties version of Romeo and Juliet and the modern version of Romeo and Juliet. It is very easy to spot these differences considering the time period each movie was set in. There are some things in the play that totally got cut from both movies. There are also some things that they added to the movies that weren’t in the play. Let us get on to the similarities and differences.

Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare, is a tragic love story about two young lovers who are forced to be estranged as a result of their feuding families. The play is about their struggle to contravene fate and create a future together. As such, it was only a matter of time before Hollywood would try and emulate Shakespeare’s masterpiece. This had been done before in many films. Prominent among them were, Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 “Romeo and Juliet” and Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 “William Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet.” Both films stay true to the themes of Shakespeare’s original play. However, the modernised Luhrmann film not only maintains the essence of Shakespeare’s writings, Luhrmann makes it relevant to a teenage audience. This is

Baz Lurhmann’s creation of the film Romeo and Juliet has shown that today’s audience can still understand and appreciate William Shakespeare. Typically, when a modern audience think of Shakespeare, they immediately think it will be boring, yet Lurhmann successfully rejuvenates Romeo and Juliet. In his film production he uses a number of different cinematic techniques, costumes and a formidably enjoyable soundtrack; yet changes not one word from Shakespeare’s original play, thus making it appeal to a modern audience.

Of the two cinematic portrayals of the climax, in Act II, scene i, of Romeo & Juliet, the Luhrmann version from 1996 is superior to the Zeffirelli version. When comparing the two one can notice that there are many differences, and similarities. While these two films are telling the same story, it is the differences between the two that lead to Luhrmann’s 1996 version being superior. Due to its more dramatic settings, and character interactions and actor

The film and the play, Romeo and Juliet is an ever grey due to tragic over tones play which draws undivided attention of Shakespeare’s writing even during this modern era. The 1996 version, Baz Lurhmann adopted the storyline to reflect the revealing trend of dispute between two feuding families. A film which shows a detailed study of the play of the immensely popular 1996 version directed by Baz Lurhmann.

‘Romeo and Juliet’ is a tragic play about two star crossed lovers written by Shakespeare in 1595. The play is a timeless teenage tradgedy. “The play champions the 16th Century belief that true love always strikes at first sight,” (Lamb 1993: Introduction) and even in modern times an audience still want to believe in such a thing as love at first sight. Act II Scene II the balcony scene displays that romantic notion perfectly.

Romeo and Juliet is a timeless story about two ill-fated lovers. Originally written by, Shakespeare, this story has been adapted by different directors who all commonly try to add their own unique twist to it. Two of the most prevalent adaptations of Romeo and Juliet have been done by Franco Zeffirelli and Baz Luhrmann, who have taken this love story to the big screen. Franco Zeffirelli’s movie, which was produced in 1968, is extremely authentic and stays true to Shakespeare's vision, whereas, Baz Luhrmann’s version produced in 1996, is contemporary and appeals more to younger audiences. There are various differences and a couple of similarities between Zeffirelli’s and Luhrmann’s movie versions such as the costumes, their interpretations of

In the different film adaptations of Romeo and Juliet, Franco Zefirelli best conveys an emotional impact through the set design, blocking, and other theatrical elements. Zefirelli also chooses to have the film in the fourteenth century so that Shakespeare’s diction is comprehensible. From this, Zeffirelli adaptation is best conveys the romantic impact Shakespeare intends to emphasize.

In the Baz Luhrmann version of Romeo and Juliet he modernised many scenes such as the balcony scene (pool scene), fight scenes and tomb scene. The scenes aren't the only thing that is modernised the costumes and props are also modernised.

Zeffirelli 1968 film version shows the emotion of the film through the lighting, sound, and the camera shots. Zeffirelli 1968 version the lighting changes throughout the whole film. For example when Mercutio dies the lighting dims, and everyone gets very quiet to show the effect of the love and friendship they have for Mercutio. The sound both diegetic and nondiegetic Zeffirelli used is also very different from the play. He uses diegetic as another part of the scene when Mercutio dies. There is rain and thunder going on that shows the effect of how much pain this is going to put everyone through after his death. The rain is for the tears and the thunder represents the cries from the people of Verona. He uses non-diegetic when Romeo is confessing his true love for Juliet to Tybalt. The music is showing the care her has for her and how much he will do for her. The music play slow and soft. Zeffirelli 1996 version uses many of different camera shots also. He uses a close-up on the pistol Romeo used to kill Tybalt with. That shows the effect of the weapon that was used to kill the cousin of Juliet. Lastly, Zeffirelli uses a medium shot when the capulets arrive to show the fear that was going on in some of the Montague’s faces because they knew something bad was about to go

There are many differences in the masquerade ball scene, such as the outfits they wear. In the 68 version they are wearing old Shakespearean clothing. Clothing that matches the time era of the play. While on the other hand the 96 version is more of a costume party. All wearing different themed costumes. In the 96 version Romeo and his friends also decide to take drugs before entering the party, which cause a fast forward scene of many strange things and loud music. Lastly Romeo and Juliet both first see each other looking through a fish tank. He then follows her down to the center of the room. While the older version has them see each other while she was dancing and then they then danced together.

Luhrmann uses lighting more effectively than Zeffirelli to portray the mood and emotions in the story of Romeo and Juliet. To begin with, Zeffirelli’s use of lighting is very weak in his version of the movie, as he does not change the lighting to suit the characters behaviors and the overall feeling of the movie at the time. For example, during the fight scene where Tybalt fights Mercutio the lighting does not change, the light remains clear and bright even after Mercutio dies. This shows that lighting in Zeffirelli’s version is not as powerful as the lighting does not reflect on the characters and how they are acting but just as a light source so you could see what's happening in the movie. On the other hand, Luhrmann’s use of lighting was

William Shakespeare’s play “Romeo and Juliet” has been redone many times by different producers who have changed parts of the play to attract a newer audience, versions of Shakespeare's play are done by Franco Zeffirelli and Baz Luhrmann, both have similarities and differences that make them unique. The version of Romeo and Juliet that is better is Zeffirelli's because the Director did a good job when it came to mirroring the original play, which didn’t ruin it. In Shakespeare's original play, the prologue tells the audience facts of “Romeo and Juliet” in a poetic manner which would help tell the audience if there would be violence romance and drama. The prologue of Zefferelli’s version he focuses more on the love between Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet, a play written by William Shakespeare, has been developed into numerous film adaptations. Franco Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet adaptation does a superb job in capturing its vehement emotions and scenes. This adaptation does a superior job in encapsulating key aspects of the characters, such as mercutio and tybalt, and the time frame oF the play. In the adaptation, play’s plot is closely followed and fluidity between events is created. The movie does a exceptional job in staying true to the original piece of work.