Romeo And Juliet: The 1968 Franco Zeffirelli Version

In the Franco Zeffirelli version of Romeo and Juliet, produced in 1968, the setting is accurate to the times of when William Shakespeare wrote the play. In the last act of the film a few differences arose. In Zeffirelli’s production Romeo does not request a letter telling of Juliet’s well-being from his friend Balthasar, whereas he did so in the play. This letter was to be given by Friar John, who is not mentioned in the 1968 film. In act 5 scene 3 Paris was laying flowers

     There are many similarities and differences between the sixties version of Romeo and Juliet and the modern version of Romeo and Juliet. It is very easy to spot these differences considering the time period each movie was set in. There are some things in the play that totally got cut from both movies. There are also some things that they added to the movies that weren’t in the play. Let us get on to the similarities and differences.

Both cinematic versions of Romeo & Juliet follow many similar aspects in their versions of Act III, scene i. Both follow a similar plotline in which Mercutio and Benvolio are

The 1996 film, Romeo and Juliet, is Baz Luhrmann’s interpretation of William Shakespeare’s play by the same name. This film is part of Baz Luhrmann’s Red Curtain Trilogy where Luhrmann uses a theatre motif in each, with poetry and language being the motif used in Romeo and Juliet. This play was originally written by William Shakespeare who was an English poet, playwright, actor and a man who is considered one of the greatest contributors to English literature as he invented over 1700 now common words and wrote some of the world’s most famous plays. Romeo and Juliet was written in 1595 so Luhrmann had to give the film a contemporary twist but keeps the original themes of forbidden love and young romance to appeal to a modern audience. In the

Zeffirelli was closer to the book. Would you like someone changing your thoughts. Yes, Romeo and Juliet is about love, and it can happen anywhere. The Luhrmann version changes everything,including the plot. In the future producers should try to make it closer to the book. It is important to keep in mind that there’s a book and plot to

Another significant scene that was portrayed differently in the two versions was the suicide scene. Zeferelli’s version is once again almost exact to what we read in the book. Romeo sees what he perceives to be a dead Juliet lying in her family’s tomb, and distraught by the sight he drinks poison. When Juliet awakens from her sleep she finds Romeo dead, and stabs herself with his knife. In Luhrmanns version Romeo goes to the church where Juliet is laid out for her funeral. He also sees what he perceives to be a dead Juliet and drinks poison. When Juliet awakens from her sleep she finds out Romeo has swallowed poison and is dying. The main difference lies in the fact that we are led to believe that maybe he will see her awake

Luhrman has based his version at Verona Beach; America and instead of basing it in the 16th century like Zeffirelli, he had his film based in the 20th century, with mansions, shiny cars and bright lights. While Zeffirelli paced his film in an Iambic pentameter – a traditional Shakespeare pace; Luhrman never kept his film at a solid pace. “By modernizing these aspects of the play, and reconstructing the prologue, Luhrmann creates a movie that is more interesting to the modern viewers.” ("Franco Zeffirelli and Baz Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet." 123HelpMe.com). As Zeffirelli may have believed famous actors would steal his show he instead hired fresh new faces to give the movie a more fresh, innocence value, But Luhrman used well known actors to play the lead roles. This worked because more people were attracted to the film by the actors.

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

In Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 version of Romeo and Juliet, is a traditional adaptation of Shakespeare’s original Romeo and Juliet, with some variations. Baz Luhrmann directed the 1996 version, also known as the MTV Romeo † Juliet. This version is very modernized, but keeps the language intact with few changes.

Luhrmann uses lighting more effectively than Zeffirelli to portray the mood and emotions in the story of Romeo and Juliet. To begin with, Zeffirelli’s use of lighting is very weak in his version of the movie, as he does not change the lighting to suit the characters behaviors and the overall feeling of the movie at the time. For example, during the fight scene where Tybalt fights Mercutio the lighting does not change, the light remains clear and bright even after Mercutio dies. This shows that lighting in Zeffirelli’s version is not as powerful as the lighting does not reflect on the characters and how they are acting but just as a light source so you could see what's happening in the movie. On the other hand, Luhrmann’s use of lighting was

While for the Luhrmann film the character seemed like they were just wearing everyday outfits. In both films, we see that they used a different location to film the movie and used different objects as weapons. For example, in the Zeffirelli film, they used swords and knife to murder one another and a knife which is used when Juliet kills herself. For the Luhrmann, since it’s more modern they don’t use and swords or knives instead they use guns. They both also used the same language as in the play which gives it that more realness to the story and gives the audience that the story was written a few hundred years

Although both directors added their own personal style, there are many similarities that are easy to identify. For example, both versions picture Juliet on a stone table with a sheer sheet lying over her. This highlights the purity and innocence Juliet had even in death. However, it is also ironic that the directors show it this way because the stone table makes Juliet appear as if she were a sacrifice

The 1968 film version of Romeo and Juliet is more tightly; aligned to what Shakespeare intended in consideration of the setting, Juliet’s impression, and verbal exchanges. When analyzing each film, it is clear to see the same plot, just portrayed differently. To begin, the settings of both films took place at the Capulet’s home where Romeo came to meet Juliet. While the 1968 film took more of an authentic path, the 1996 film took an modern path. In the 1996 film, the main setting was the pool, which strays from the play because it is the balcony scene.

Though the 1977 version of “Romeo And Juliet” is decent, the original had qualities that the modernized version did not. There was so much more of a connection between Romeo and Juliet in the original, however the modernized version did show Shakespeare justice. The 1997 movie version is an effective version of Shakespeare’s original play “Romeo And Juliet” because all of Shakespeare's most valuable points are made such as; it showed exactly what they were feeling, we can relate to their problems, and the actors showed what the characters were willing to do for love.. The actors show the intense emotion of Shakespeare's literature.

In the two films Romeo and Juliet, directed by Zeffirelli and Luhrmann, there are many artistic variations including the mood, actors, and setting. Both directors used many different artistic variations to enhance the enjoyment of the viewers of the time period they were released in; which made each film feel very different even though they were based off the same story. Two artistic variations that made a big difference between the two films, Romeo and Juliet, were the mood and the actors who played certain characters. In the 1969 version of Romeo and Juliet, Zeffirelli created the mood by using dull, earthy colors, classical instrumental music, and had a very calm and flowy energy.