Comparing Zeffirelli's Romeo And Juliet

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.

Act III, scene i of Romeo & Juliet is the climax of the story, in which two fights are portrayed, one between Mercutio and Tybalt, and one between Romeo and Tybalt, which lead to the deaths of both Mercutio and Tybalt. When portrayed in film form in Zeffirelli’s 1968 version, and Luhrmann’s 1996 version, 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 portrayals.

‘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.

This director’s choice shows that both directors cherished and respected Shakespeare's written text. In Zeffirelli’s film, the dialogue fits in with the other aspects of the film, such as the costumes and set. since everything is traditional, but what is interesting is that the actors manage to sound very natural and comfortable with the dialogue. They managed to convey strong emotion with help of the text and entirely transformed into the characters. Since, Zefferelli's version both includes the traditional sets, costumes, and language it makes it easy for the audience to understand the original play, the film is straightforward and does not contradict the original play, making the film a credible resort for those who want to have a better understanding of the story. Unlike Zeffirelli’s version, Luhrmann’s costumes and set do not suit the dialogue, making the Shakespearean dialogue in his version both strange to watch and hear, another odd aspect is that at times the characters did not precisely mean what they were saying, for instance, when a character was talking about their sword, they were actually talking about their guns named sword, consequently, this made the dialogue confusing to follow at times. Nevertheless, the actors in both films managed to execute an admirable performance and did Shakespeare's text

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.

Contrasts between Zeffirelli and Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet There are many differences, large and small, between Zeffirelli and Luhrmann’s version of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. After seeing the first scene of both of these films, some notable contrasts became clear. The props used in both films differ greatly, in the 1967 version, very dated costumes were used, it looked like the director wanted a medieval style to be shown in the film judging by the costumes and props used. Real swords were drawn by the Capulet's and the Montague’s as the play suggests but the fighting seemed quite unbelievable to a modern day viewer as did some of the stalls used in the small market surroundings.

Baz Luhrmann, a well known film director, adapted this love story to film in 1996, which is called Romeo and Juliet. William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, is a tragedy about two young lovers who cannot be together because their families are enemies. Baz Luhrmann directed 'William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet' recounts the Romeo and Juliet story utilizing Shakespearean Language set as a modern day environment. Not all viewers would recognize the language of Shakespeare so the mise en scene and additionally the performers' developments are essential to ensure that the audience recognizes what is happening inside of the dialog. In this essay, I will talk about whether Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and Baz Luhrmann's film updates Shakespeare

The New World Encyclopedia includes a lengthy and extensive section on Romeo & Juliet with a copious amount of information or aspects pertaining to the play. In one part, it examines the film adaptations of Romeo & Juliet and discusses the thought process when trying to adapt Shakespeare’s works cinematically. The end of the fourth act being a major focus. This material will help further my understanding and argument of the sacrifices that need to be made to have Shakespearean plays effective on the big screen; especially for modern audiences.

Romeo and Juliet was written about 421 years ago and is still one of the most famous love stories in literature today. Zeffirelli’s film was produced in 1968, only 48 years ago. The film was made 373 years after William Shakespeare’s play, yet Zeffirelli was able to capture the essence of various themes from the play. The theme of Act II scene ii from William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet was best represented in the film.

The Zeffirelli production shows Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet in a unique way. The Zeffirelli production puts the play relevant to new contexts

Have you ever read a book or watched a movie and were left with the final thought of, something was missing. In the Luthrman in Zeferelli edition of Romeo and Juliet there were several of events that were not added into to the movie that were clearly an ineffective. There is no reasoning behind why the events weren’t implemented. Some huge events in Romeo and Juliet included, Romeo and Paris dueling, Romeo’s final soliloquy and Friar Laurence’s speech to the families. All being big events that were left out. To completely understand the viewer would have to read the play, or else they are not getting the full side of the story. Clearly many of the creative choices made by the movie directors were ineffective.

In the Zeffirelli and Luhrmann movie adaptations of the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, the portrayed emotions and behavior of many characters is variable between the films. However, none is more variable than Tybalt, a nephew to Lord Capulet who tends to seek revenge and a spicy demeanor. In the Luhrmann adaptation, Tybalt is seen with more rancor and bloodthirst when beating up and killing his victims, while the Zeffirelli film shows Tybalt as a more playful, yet bothersome idiot. Therefore, Tybalt’s rebellious behavior in the Luhrmann movie is brimming with rage and emotions which relate and appeal to the targeted youth audience of today.

The tragedy, “Romeo and Juliet” was originally a play created by William Shakespeare, one of many world famous plays by the same. This play has been converted into its intended style many times in the past, the earliest version in 1968 was directed by Franco Zeffirelli, the latest film in 1996 by Baz Luhrmann. The latter is quite modern and only occassionally uses the words of Shakespeare. On the contrary, the older version was very traditional, and almost completely stuck to the original script. In this essay, I will compare the modern day film to the traditional version of the tragic play, “Romeo and Juliet.

William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is a tragic love story about two star-crossed lovers held back from their family rivalries. Two great directors, Franco Zeffirelli and Baz Luhrmann, tell the story of Romeo and Juliet differently, through their eyes and with their interpretations. Franco Zeffirelli expressed his version of Romeo and Juliet in 1968.In the beginning of the 1967 film, a narrator speaks the famous line, “Two households, both alike in dignity,” as a backdrop of an Italian city is shown, the city of Verona. Franco Zeffirelli’s film contained a very authentic version to what Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet was mainly about. In Mr. Zeffirelli’s film, original Shakespearean dialogue is spoken among the characters, with their dialect seeming to be very accurate for the movie’s time period.