Death’s Kiss: A Film Analysis of Baz Luhrman’s Romeo and Juliet
Through history, dozens of renditions of Shakespeare’s classic tragedy Romeo and Juliet have been created by dozens of different directors, each with a unique twist on the play’s famous storyline. Baz Luhrmann provided an interesting angle to the story of Romeo and Juliet, choosing to depict it in the modern era rather than in early modern Verona. Luhrmann’s rendition of a particularly famous scene, the first kiss shared between the eponymous lovers, uses a variety of techniques to reflect on the true nature of their romance. These include a dynamic soundtrack representative of their rapidly changing situation, metaphors alluding to the cramped and claustrophobic nature of
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As the elevator door opens and Lady Capulet enters the scene again, the music becomes frantic and fast as Juliet flees from her mother and is forcefully taken from Romeo. As Juliet climbs the stairs to meet her suitor, the music slows to a dark, sinister pace as the lovers realize the insurmountable issue separating the two from being together, setting this up as the driving force for the plot of the film. The film score serves as the track for which the story rides upon, providing hints at the nature of the characters and giving insight into the plot of the film moving forward.
A central element of the scene at hand is the elevator where Romeo and Juliet share their first kiss, which serves as a two-fold metaphor alluding to their passionate romance. The two frantically enter the elevator in a desperate attempt to hide from Lady Capulet, and succeed in doing so, but only briefly. Their passionately romantic gestures toward one another only last the duration of the elevator ride, whereupon they find themselves dragged back into the “real world,” where it is impossible for the two to remain together in peace. The brief elevator ride firstly serves as an allusion to the rapid progression of Romeo and Juliet’s affair. They meet, fall in love, get married, and die for each other within the span of four
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
This play is about a boy named Romeo and girl named Juliet. Their family are mortal enemies so that means that they are always fighting with one another. At a Capulet party Romeo and Juliet meet for the first time not knowing who each other are, until later that night that they are enemies. They begin to fall in love with each other and get married after meeting for one night. Then the drama gets to their head and they kill themselves. In Romeo and Juliet Capulet’s and Montague’s, Friar Lawrence, and Balthasar are responsible for the tragic deaths of Romeo and Juliet.
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.
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
Reckless actions lead to untimely deaths. In Shakespeare’s tragedy “Romeo and Juliet”, both protagonists fight for their hopeless love. Bloodshed and chaos appear inevitable in fair Verona; Romeo and Juliet come from enemy households, the Montegues and the Capulets, who have sworn to defeat one another. The young and handsome Romeo weeps over his unrequited love for Rosaline, until he lays his eyes on Juliet. Strong and independent, Juliet seeks to escape her family’s will to marry her off to Paris, a kinsman of the Prince. Fate ties these adolescents’ lives together binding them to witness the ill-fortunes of Romeo and Juliet’s love. Romeo and Juliet prove themselves woefully impulsive through their words and actions, which ultimately
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.
Romeo and Juliet is a play created by a famous playwright called William Shakespeare. Baz Luhrmann adapted the play to create a modern version of Romeo and Juliet in 1996. There are many similarities and differences in how Baz Lurhmann and Shakespeare portray the relationship between Juliet and her parents. There are many times in the scene how Shakespeare uses language, structure and form to present the relationship between Juliet and her parents, while Baz Luhrmann reveals this relationship using different camera angles and diegetic and non diegetic sounds and shot types.
“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.
In the play, the ephemeral exchange of love is interrupted by the threat of violence
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.
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
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
Discuss the appropriation of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ by William Shakespeare and ‘Romeo+Juliet’ by Baz Luhrmann
Shakespeare’s work in The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is outstanding in that it presents the audience with a very compelling and forbidden relationship between two people. The highs and lows of this play are a rollercoaster for the audience’s emotions and it can make the experiences ever so involved. One of the scenes that can really affect the audience and their emotions is the scene when Romeo and Juliet have their first kiss. In this short writing, I will analyze a clip from the 1968 version of the play by Paramount Pictures, as well as the 1996 version by 20th Century Fox, and in doing so I will closely look at what the director was trying to accomplish through the use of music, lighting, camera angle, and actor choices. This will allow
Inevitably, passionate love is woven through “Romeo and Juliet”, declared by speech and insinuated by the couple infatuation with each other. Without a doubt, several scenes were a strong representation of this obsession. Many scenes into the play, the young, lovelorn Romeo is seen in a dismal and in a disconnected state due to his unrequited love for Rosaline. But as his hopeless eyes falls upon Juliet at the Capulet’s ball, Romeo is resurrected from his depression in awe by the mesmerising beauty of Juliet; this was expressed through Romeo’s soliloquy. A little while into the aftermath of the party, Romeo, powered by the newly found momentous love, risks his life climbing the high orchard walls into the deadly grounds of his enemies, the Capulets. Although Juliet fears for Romeo’s life, Romeo fearlessly