Comparison of Franco Zefferelli’s Romeo and Juliet to The Adaptation by Baz Luhrmann This essay aims to discus the similarities and differences of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, directed by Franco Zefferelli and Baz Luhrmann. In this essay there will be an outline of the story, a comparison of the techniques used in each film and the affect these techniques have on the viewer. In Fair Verona two families have been feuding for generations, the Capulets and the Montagues. The Capulets have an astonishing daughter, approaching marriage age, named Juliet. She is to be wed to the best suitor. The Montagues have a son called Romeo. When Romeo and his friends attend the Capulets party, uninvited, Romeo …show more content…
Juliet wakes to she the last breath of her one true love. Life without love is nothing to Juliet, she grasps Romeo’s dagger and ends her own life in an act of bravery and devotion. In respect to the untimely deaths of their children the Montagues and the Capulets agree to end the feud. At the begging of Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet there is a small television screen within the viewers television screen, all the surrounding area is completely blacked out so that the viewers attention is focused on what the news reader is announcing. The presenter is well poised and speaks properly; this is to make the viewer believe what is being presented to them. When the newsreader has finished the television screen disappears and bold white writing saying ‘In Fair Verona’ appears on the screen telling the viewer where the film is set. This writing is quickly replaced with a large statue of Christ, which shows that the country is catholic. A jump shot flicks between these two images until the camera is level with the Christ statue. Tense music starts to play in the background to tell the viewer that a fight is expected later in the film. The tension is broken by the ravings of the Montagues. The Montagues are wearing beach style clothes to suggest that they are laid back. The music in the background has a strong beat to it. When they arrive at the gas station the Capulets
Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet, two star-crossed lovers, will do anything to show their deep affection for each other. Since they are from two different families, who happen to be enemies, they can be punished for expressing their love for one another. Unfortunately, their passion sparks many outrages. Due to Father Capulet’s feud with the Montague family, Romeo and Juliet's love life results in death.
Love plays a crucial role in telling the story of Romeo and Juliet, clearly shown in the appropriated Luhrmann film. Using film as a new medium, cinematic techniques explore the love between Romeo and Juliet. The balcony scene is a clear example of how Luhrmann expresses this. To show his love for Juliet, Romeo decides to sneak into the Capulet mansion to confess his love for her. When Romeo sees Juliet through his window, light shines around her and he describes it as, “ the sun.” This suggests that Romeo is calling Juliet the brightness in his life. Luhrmann decided to portray Romeo
Luhrmann’s production of Shakespeare’s tragic play, Romeo and Juliet, appeals to the audience members largely due to Mercutio’s death. The weather, the acting and the music make this version powerful. The acting makes this scene of the movie believable when Mercutio was dying, Romeo was getting sad and started crying. Tybalt felt so bad that he killed Mercutio and didn’t know what to do he was just shocked and stood still looking at Romeo and Mercutio. The weather was sunny, hot and the sky was blue and the clouds were out and about. When Mercutio cursed both Romeo and Tybalt houses and started to die the weather started to change. The skies started to turn dark grey and thunder and lightning began and the wind so powerful started to blow all things around it away. Then out of nowhere a powerful storm has began to start when Mercutio was dying in Romeo’s arms. After Romeo killed Tybalt the storm began to become calm down and the storm had stop.
Luhrmann further modernised his film adaption by altering the play’s original prologue. The movie begins with a prologue made as a television broadcast. In doing this it informs the audience of the violence taking place between the two families, the Montagues and the Capulets. The prologue differs dramatically from Zeffirelli’s interpretation. The 1968 version of the prologue is retold by a monotonous narrator, who simply tells the tale of the feuding families set over a milieu of an Italian city. In restructuring the prologue Luhrmann has made his interpretation of Romeo and Juliet more appealing to a teenage audience. Adolescent viewers can identify more with a modern television broadcast in comparison to a tedious monologue recital.
William Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet, tells the story of the tragic love between Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet. The play has been reinterpreted throughout time and Baz Luhrmann’s film version, William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet, uses a modern setting to tell the tale. Luhrmann’s cinematic understanding reinforces the key themes of love, fate and hate as he explores Shakespeare’s famous play.
At the very beginning of the movie Lurhmann starts by making the audience instantly focus on the screen and nothing else. The camera zooms in onto a TV set whilst an anchor-woman on a news programme presents the synopsis of the story, “two households both alike in dignity...” Because the only object on the screen is one TV set with a black background, the audience focuses only on the news reporter which gives them a better understanding of the movie ahead and it instantly gets the viewers to concentrate hard. This synopsis is then enhanced by words and repeated lines both flashing across the screen and said by the voiceover. Thus, even if the audience cannot
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
Romeo and Juliet is a timeless, classic love story written by the incomparable William Shakespeare. Many of Shakespeare’s works are considered literary classics, but none are more loved than Romeo and Juliet. This play masterfully tells the love story of two teenagers in Elizabethan England. The title characters Romeo and Juliet are members of two feuding families, Romeo is a Montague and Juliet is a Capulet. There are different stylistic ways of portraying Romeo and Juliet, and the two most popular film versions portray two very different styles of this one play. Zeferelli's Romeo and Juliet was made in the 1970s, and is the film version most commonly shown in high school classrooms. The newest film version of this play is Baz Luhrmanns
“William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet”, as portrayed in Luhrmann’s 1997 film, reveals that the cause of love will always lead to the consequence of death. Luhrmann focuses on highlighting this connection through the usage of props, costumes, and symbols, the foreshadowing of Romeo’s and Juliet’s fate, and Romeo’s compassion for his friends and family throughout the film. These aspects of the film emphasize the connection of love and death and explore the harsh realities and truths relating to this connection.
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
Opening the play, the newsfeed style prologue fades into a montage of documentary-like shots of the city of Verona Beach. Already the director begins to prepare the
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.
Discuss the appropriation of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ by William Shakespeare and ‘Romeo+Juliet’ by Baz Luhrmann
Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet are young teenagers who fall deeply in love but their families are bitter enemies. Regardless of the feud between their families they get married in secret. They make every effort to keep their actions a secret but the story ends in tragedy when Romeo, Juliet, Tybalt, Mercutio and Paris all die. Juliet finds that the love of her life has been killed so she kills herself so she can be with him for eternity. Their deaths bring a final ending toward the feud between the Capulets and Montagues.
Baz Luhrmann (1996) and Franco Zeffirelli (1968), both directors of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, both successful, both totally different interpretations of the play. Though the two appropriations are only 28 years apart, they both are two completely different views of the play. The two movies show different aspects of conflict from the Montague’s and Capulet’s. Romeo and Juliet displays both internal and external conflict during the play. Shakespeare’s play shows the theme of conflict because Romeo and Juliet is as much about conflict as it is about love.