Baz Luhman and a More Accessible Romeo and Juliet to a Modern Teenage Audience
Romeo and Juliet was written during the fifteenth century and the
language and style is Elizabethan. Today the language is seen as
incomprehensible to a young audience. This can cause many problems
because Shakespearean texts are compulsory for students to study
during their education. Usual responses to Romeo and Juliet are very
negative as teenagers find the story inaccessible. However the
essential storyline could be aimed at a young audience with themes of
forbidden love, violence and family feuds. Therefore the main problem
facing Luhrmann's film was not the plot but the language.
Luhrmann's film interpretation of Romeo and Juliet compensates for the
setbacks produced through language because Luhrmann has enclosed
modern day scenes, clothing and music to create a more exciting and
enthralling film, whilst still using the original Shakespearean
language from the text. This makes Luhrmann's adaptation of the play
very different from other versions on the market. It shifts away from
interpretations such as Zefferelli's, which does not meet teenage
desires.
The way in which Luhrmann has gone about altering Romeo and Juliet
means that the film is more appealing towards a younger generation and
therefore is targeted at the people who wouldn't normally be
interested in Shakespeare. This is because the action, violence and
style used by Luhrmann, gives teenagers something to relate to, as it
includes something which many young people are interested in or
something which they have encountered.
The first impression of a film is very important to...
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... responses to Shakespeare.
Elements such as these help a younger audience to relate to the film
and the themes within the plot. This means that the audience is more
likely to enjoy the film. I think that the way Luhrmann's has
introduced a mixture of modern day scenes with Shakespearean language
works very well together and successfully interests teenagers to the
story of Romeo and Juliet. However in some parts, I felt that the way
in which Luhrmann distinguished between the Capulet's and the
Montague's was too extreme, as their styles were very different and I
thought that the music was not necessary when they were already easily
identified.
I felt that the first scene was very appealing towards teenagers,
especially boys, due to the fast cars and violence, which are two
things commonly known to interest them.
Have you ever fallen in love with the wrong person? How about falling in love with your family’s worst enemy? This tragedy happened to Romeo and Juliet, two adolescents that were doomed to unhappiness since the moment they were born. Two powerful and respectable families that have had hatred for each other for so long that the reason for how their hatred began is forgotten. Romeo and Juliet were the ones who had to pay the consequences for their families’ feud. Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet adaptation is both faithful and unfaithful to mise-en-scène in the beginning, middle, and end of the scene.
Chloe Fleming investigates Baz Luhrmann’s capability in embodying Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet in his own modern film adaptation and praises the hell out of it.
...ended. While Zeferelli’s version held true to the way the play has been written, only to take liberties with some of the dialogue, Luhrmann set the play in modern times. With his updated version Luhrmann was able to bring Romeo and Juliet to an entirely new, and younger audience. He directed the film so that today’s teenagers could relate to it. While the language may have confused some of today’s teenagers the majority understood the story. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is a timeless, and romantic story that everyone at some point can relate to. This is not a fairytale it doesn’t have a happy ending, but it is a love story. Romeo and Juliet is a play that can be updated time and time again without ever loosing its original luster, and brilliance. I can only hope that when my children are teenagers another inspired director will bring this love story to life again.
In the 1996 movie “The Tragedy Of Romeo and Juliet” by Baz Luhrman, there are some major differences between his version and the book “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare.
in the way he speaks in a sly voice. He is the perfect actor to play
“The most filmed of all plays, ‘Romeo and Juliet’, with its universal themes… remains uniquely adaptable for any time period,” (Botnick, 2002). Directors Franco Zeffirelli (1968) and Baz Luhrman (1996) provide examples of the plays adaption to suit the teenage generation of their time. Identifying the key elements of each version: the directors intentions, time/place, pace, symbols, language and human context is one way to clearly show how each director clearly reaches their target audience. Overall however Luhrman’s adaptation would be more effective for capturing the teenage audience.
Romeo and Juliet presents an ongoing feud between the Montague and Capulet families whose children meet and fall in love. Markedly, the meeting scene depicting love at first sight continues to be praised by today’s critics. Romeo and Juliet then receive the label of star-crossed lovers whose tragic demise is written in the stars. In fact, Shakespeare 's work is well received and its numerous adaptations have made it one of his most enduring and notorious stories. The cinematic world brings to the screens a disastrous approach by Baz Luhrmann to do the play justice. A glance at Baz Luhrmann’s productions allows audiences to assume he delivers movies which are unlike those of any other filmmaker today, or perhaps ever. Therefore, blending a delicate
Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet is a film that converts Shakespeare’s famous play into a present-day setting. The film transforms the original texts into modern notions, whilst still employing Shakespearean language. Compared to Franco Zeffirelli’s adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, Luhrmann’s picture is easier for a teenage audience to understand and relate to because of his modernisations. Despite the passing of four centuries Shakespeare’s themes of love, hate, violence, family and mortality remain the same regardless of the setting.
Would you want to be in class and learn about Romeo and Juliet? In this essay I will tell you why I think Romeo and Juliet should be taught in schools. I personally think that it should be taught because of the messages it tries to influence on us.
Romeo and Juliet is a play about two lovers who have to risk their lives in order to demonstrate their love and will to stay together, regardless the feud between their families. By the end, the death of Romeo and Juliet finally bring the reconciliation to these two families. It is fate that the two most shall-not meet people fall in love and it love that eventually won against hatred. Since then, there have been many different versions of Romeo and Juliet, whether it was for film, stage, musicals. These different recontextualised adaptions change the original play by many ways, some modernise the language, environment, props as well as changing the original characteristics of some characters. Out of all the different adaptions of Romeo and Juliet, two stood out the most. One was the Romeo and Juliet (1996) and directed by Baz Luhrmann and the other one was Romeo and Juliet Broadway (2013) play version,
Luhrmann’s 1996 Romeo and Juliet is compelling when communicating the main ideas of the play by providing the audience with a modern translation of the play using the motifs in the film which correlate to the play.
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare for a Modern Audience Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet' was written to be viewed by an audience via stage. But theatre productions have become less popular due to cinema, videos, DVD's and home theatre. It means that for a cheaper cost people can view productions of stories both in public and within their own homes. Theatres of today tend to be portrayed as an occasional evening out, something that is planned and requires booking. Theatres are a lot less common than in Shakespeare's time and people may be put off by the idea of having to travel to them.
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.
The actions of Romeo and Juliet in their relationship are much different than teenage couples today. However their personalties, attitudes and emotions are quite similar to those of teenagers today. Romeo and Juliet like each other instantly which is very common today as well. Young boys and girls in this modern day period didn't carefully consider the thought of marrying as young as 12-14 years old and beginning their own family. In today's age teenagers are much more vigilant about this type of situation. Differences of lifestyle are inevitable, as children think differently from the parents and grandparents who lived in different generations.
Have you ever been in love before,do you think teen could fall in love? What if I told you my parents have been together since they were fourteen, and that Romeo and Juliet fell in love at the age of fourteen. In an article about Mel magazine it says that "seventy eight percent of high school sweethearts that wait till they are twenty five to get married are still together past ten years." It is possible for teenagers to fall in love because of trust, loyalty, and influence.