Baz Luhrmann
Catalogue and Commentary
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The following items have been collected in aid of my research:
1. jjj 'Strictly Ballroom' directed by Baz Luhrmann 1992
2. jjj 'Romeo & Juliet' directed by Baz Luhrmann 1997
3. jjj 'Moulin Rouge' directed by Baz Luhrmann 2001
4. jjj 'Making it' feature - the making of Moulin Rouge
5. j Imdb - website - cast and crew lists/ user reviews
6. jj Baz Luhrmann interview on Moulin Rouge
http://www.romanticmovies.about.com/library/weekly/aa030902a.htm
7. jjj Guardian Interview with Baz - online
http://www.film.guardian.co.uk/interview/interviewpages/0,6737,549699.htm
8. jjj Quotes from and about Baz - online
http://www.bazluhrmann.org.bazquotes.html
9. jj An online journal of film studies - Moulin Rouge critic's review
- online
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/film/journal/filmrev/moulin-rouge.htm
10. j Baz's Alexander the Great Project - online
http://www.hostultra.com/-bazthegreat/alexarticle38.htm
11. jjj The making of Strictly Ballroom & director biography - extra
on Strictly Ballroom DVD
12. jj Baz Luhrmann Biography - online
http://www.hollywood.com/celebs/bio/celeb/1672432
These collected resources have provided me with a wide range of
information surrounding my chosen director, Baz Luhrmann. It contains
information about his entrance into the film industry, his passion for
storytelling and his work with different mediums. Luhrmann began his
journey into film making as an actor, he soon tired of this and after
some words of advice from British director Peter Brook, he turned his
attention to the one piece act,...
... middle of paper ...
... my conclusion is therefore less likely to be
biased. However not all of the material collected was relevant to my
study and contained one-sided, uninformed views. I have enjoyed
conducting this study and found the 'extra features' taken from the
videos and DVD's to be particularly fascinating. I found it useful to
hear Luhrmann speak directly of the techniques and ideas used to
create his trilogy.
Sifting material from internet sites was often difficult as it
involved deciding which bits of information were genuine as opposed to
gossip or opinion. I have found it very easy to get carried away
whilst conducting this research due to the broadness of the subject.
If I were to do this study again I would perhaps explore a different
aspect of his work and determine his position as an 'auteur' using a
different route.
Film making has gone through quite the substantial change since it’s initial coining just before the turn of the 19th century, and one would tend argue that the largest amount of this change has come quite recently or more so in the latter part of film’s history as a whole. One of the more prominent changes having taken place being the role of women in film. Once upon a time having a very set role in the industry, such as editing for example. To mention briefly the likes of Dede Allen, Verna Fields, Thelma Schoonmaker and so forth. Our female counterparts now occupy virtually every aspect of the film making industry that males do; and in many instances excel past us. Quite clearly this change has taken place behind the lens, but has it taken
Lisa Cholodenko grew up in Los Angeles and she began her film careers working as an assistant editor; however, she then moved to New York and earned an MFA in screenwriting and direction at the Columbia University School of arts. At Columbia University School of Arts, Cholodenko filmed her first short movie Dinner Party. Besides being a director, Lisa Cholodenko also was a film professor at Columbia University, an advisor and is currently on the Board of Governs of Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Science. It was surprising to be able to find out how active Cholodenko is in the film industry and in the university she attended. This portrays how committed Cholodenko is to creating successful movies and to be a part of others film victory.
The astounding perils of young love has been eloquently captured in the story of Romeo and Juliet. Franco Zefferelli and Baz Luhrmann are the creators of the two most renowned film adaptations of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Zefferelli, the more traditional director, created his Oscar winning version in 1968. Baz Luhrmann put an abstract, modern twist on Shakespeare's classic and created the 1996 version that raised millions of dollars in box office sales. Being that these two films are so different, I have chosen to compare them to one another, using the famed balcony scene as my focus.
This paper discusses the artist, Leon Bakst and his influences in the Ballet Russe as a costume and scenic designer and analyses its significant social message (political message, or etc.) as related to its time period.
This is very fertile ground for a love story, a musical, anything, really. Puccini found it good enough for La boheme, after all. What we get in Moulin Rouge, though, is a Paris of 1900 filtered through the myopia of late 20th Century pop culture, especially pop music. We get an anachronistic melange of Madonna and Elton John, of Nirvana and Olivia Newton John.
Reichardt, Kelly (Director), Raymond, John and Reichardt, Kelly (Writers), Williams, Michelle and Robinson, John (Performances). 2008. Oscilloscope Pictures, 2009. DVD
...e tragic celebration of young, forbidden love told by William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, has been tailored for many motion picture adaptations. The most famous of these adaptations are Franco Zeffirelli’s version and Baz Lurhmann’s film produced in 1996. These two films applied Shakespeare’s most well-known work as a basis for their motion pictures. Both films had similarities, but the differences were much more apparent. Ever since William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet has been debuted, it has and forever will be an artistic influence for playwrights, directors, and other artists.
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 done through the renewal of props and costumes, the reconstruction of the prologue and the upgrading of the setting, whilst preserving the original Shakespearean language. Out of the two, it is Luhrmann who targets Romeo & Juliet to a younger audience to a much larger extent than Zeffirelli.
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 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.
In conclusion, individuals find William Shakespeare 's Romeo and Juliet to be a spectacular presentation of Baz Luhrmann 's directorial capacity. This is an incredible film that individuals know would make Shakespeare him blush to see how his story has touched so many, so positively in the near twenty- first
Analysis of Movie Moulin Rouge In this essay I will be analyzing in depth four scenes from Baz Luhrmann's critically acclaimed Moulin Rouge that was released in 2000. I will be analyzing the opening sequence, the sequence in the Moulin Rouge itself, the two dancing sequences 'Like a Virgin' and 'Tango Roxanne' and the final scenes of the film. Throughout this essay I will be commenting on the filming techniques that Luhrmann uses and what affects these have on the audience, also I will be analyzing how the film is similar and different to typical Hollywood Musicals.
In 1996, Baz Luhrmann directed “Romeo + Juliet”, a modern twist on the famous tragedy play by William Shakespeare in 1597 where the main characters Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet where portrayed by Leonardo Dicaprio and Claire Danes. While some praise the strange interpretation of the old tale, there are also those who condemn the rendition as a destructive and disrespectful to the great work of Shakespeare. There will always be two sides to every story and this work will take that into consideration as well as comparing the two different yet similar works to see how post modernism has played a role in Luhrmann’s version of Romeo and Juliet.
The film is filled, from its opening moments, “with glancing references to and overt borrowing from the cinema of violence: the Western, the gangster movie, the kung-fu pic, the urban drama, the crime thriller, [and] the action comedy.”6 As Philippa Hawker implies, the film is a kaleidoscope of recognisable film tropes and images, notable instances might be the dramatic slow motion shot of Tybalt 's cowboy boots stubbing a cigarette, followed by his dramatic flair when shooting the retreating Capulets; both based in a fight scene in which the choreography may have been recognised in the tradition of melding both 'western ' and 'action comedy '. Alfredo Michael Modeness appears to also concur with this judgement of Luhrmann 's style, but adds that the brawl is “underscored by more spaghetti western music and choreographed through a mix of formulaic moves from classic action films and comic strips.”7 Modeness 's assertion allows a consideration of why Romeo + Juliet has become such a part of the epoch in which it was created, and still remains to resonate today, as it follows formulaic film codes that are detectable to a modern audience, especially its target audience of youth culture, and therefore makes its perhaps 'dated