Romeo And Juliet And Zeffirelli's

Romeo and Juliet is one of William Shakespeare’s most famous tragedies. It tells the story of “a pair of star-cross’d lovers” (1.prologue.6) in the Italian city of Verona. Throughout the play, Shakespeare intertwines various themes, emotions and characters traits. Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 film adaptation strongly mirrors many of these attributes. One of these key themes is predetermined destiny. Shakespeare explores this theme through his use of foreshadowing and coincidence. Zeffirelli omits and includes certain parts of the original story to emphasise the theme of fate. The theme of fate is very strong throughout the play, but some aspects of their destiny have to be accredited to the character’s actions and choices.

Luhrmann uses dramatic irony by employing a series of close up shots of Juliet’s hands and face moving. This makes the scene more tragic, as the audience is aware that Juliet is not dead, and is anxious for her to wake up in time to stop Romeo from poising himself. In addition, Luhrmann uses a close-up shot of Juliet touching Romeo’s face, followed by his reaction, as he realises that he has made a mistake. This makes the scene more tragic, because we know that if Romeo waited even a few more seconds before consuming the poison, he would have realised that Juliet was alive, and would not have killed himself. Furthermore, it makes his death far more unpleasant, as Romeo realises the consequences of his actions, and dies with

This frustrates the audience because Juliet does not speak to him. Romeo takes the poison, he dies, and the silence after his death is so tense. We then hear the sound of Juliet crying when she loads the gun on her, and moments later, the sound of the gun shot echoes. The camera shows the two lovers happy in death and we see a flashback that reminds the audience of the night they met and the happy moments that they shared together. The flashback gives the audience the idea of their troubled but happy relationship that they had and helps the audience to have some connection with their tragedy. Martin (2002:41) further proposes that Lurhmann’s Romeo and Juliet makes much use of flashback and flash-forward to add to the drama of the script; as his style suggests irony and downplays the role of fate in the story. Baz Lurhmann (1996) picture (see Figure 1 below) extreme close-up, illustrates how very effective this scene is because they sacrificed themselves so they could be with each other. When the camera zooms, we see that the news report shows again, the television fades and the film ends, leaving the end of the film dramatic and heart wrenching. Baz Lurhmann used this device so the audience could see the effect of changing the focus from their

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.

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

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

Shakespeare’s classic Romeo and Juliet has been reimagined many times across different mediums. One interpretation that stands out among the rest is Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 film of the same name. The most shocking and powerful difference between Luhrmann’s work and other films or stage productions of this piece, is the movie’s setting. Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet is set in the modern city of Verona Beach, New York, ruled by two powerful business families, the Montagues and the Capulets. Themes, language, and ideas remain the same, while places, props, and wardrobes are updated to the twentieth century. This compelling change helps emphasize the violent, fast-paced, and chaotic society of the play, which comes to precipitate the tragic demise of the two main characters.

Why is it important to see things in different perspectives? “Romeo and Juliet” was Shakespeare's most famous tragedy and one of the world's most enduring love stories derives its plot from several sixteenth-century sources. Although Frank Zeffirelli's Romeo & Juliet and Baz Luhrmann's Romeo & Juliet are different as Frank Zeffirelli's Romeo & Juliet was old fashioned, while Baz Luhrmann's Romeo & Juliet was like something you will see today, but they are also similar as they both use the same narrative. A difference in the Zeffirelli version of “Romeo and Juliet” is the play fighting between Mercutio and Tybalt and then Tybalt stabs Mercutio on accident.

In Shakespearian plays, Shakespeare’s words don’t change, but the way his words are portrayed is ever changing. There are multiple plays all different portraits of each of Shakespeare’s words. Each director has a different perspective and therefore a different interpretation of Shakespeare’s words. Romeo and Juliet is an iconic love story of Shakespeare’s design. Plays, movies, even books have been inspired by his Romeo and Juliet story.

“For never was a story of more woe, Than this is Juliet and her Romeo.” This quote describes the storyline of the classic Romeo and Juliet extremely well. This play tells the story of two star-crossed lovers from feuding families falling into instantaneous love and doing what it took to be together. Along the way, the couple marries in secrecy and in the end, a total of six characters die, including themselves. Nowadays, people can see the many different versions and depictions of William Shakespeare’s play, such as Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 movie. Differences range from little details to an entire fighting scene being excluded from the movie.

Shakespeare's themes are universal, that's why his plays written centuries ago, are still studied today. He wrote about every possible human action, betrayal, envy, tragedy and more besides. Romeo & Juliet is one his finest, romantic, and tragedious piece written. To understand the concept of Romeo & Juliet, it is helpful to watch and analyze the two movie versions of the story, Zeffirelli’s 1968 traditional film and Luhrmann’s 1996 modern film. They both have the the same aim to convince the audience by showing and telling Romeo & Juliet story, but in different ways.

William Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is considered one of the greatest love stories of all time. It is about two star-crossed lovers from feuding families whose hatred brings the lovers’ lives to a tragic end. Two film directors created what are now the two most popular film versions of ‘Romeo and Juliet’: the 1973 Franco Zefirelli version and the 1997 Baz Luhrmann version. However, the two different directors took completely different approaches on how to produce and direct their films - Zefirelli took a much more ‘traditional’ approach, by keeping the setting and costuming close to that in Shakespeare’s time, while Luhrmann did the opposite by modernising the setting and characters and adapt to today’s audience. By making these changes,

Abdullah Jawad Ms. Muzzi ENG2D1-21 9 May 2016 Movie Comparison Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare’s well-written tragic plays. There are numerous movies that are the reenacted version of this play. Out of all, the most prominent are, Franco Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet released in the year 1968, and Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo+Juliet released in the year 1996. The one that best catches the actual meaning of Shakespeare’s play for a present day viewer is Baz Luhrmann’s version of the reenactment. To make his movie look modern he creatively remodels the costumes and modernizes certain sets and locations of the play, which for that reason appeals and attracts a modern viewer.