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Death’S Kiss:A Film Analysis Of Baz Luhrman’S Romeo And

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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 …show more content…

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

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