Baz Luhrmann's Interpretation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet "Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona (where we lay our scene)
From ancient grudge break new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-crossed lovers take their lives"
This essay will explain film director Baz Luhrmann's interpretation of
William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet". The film was made in 1996
and set in a modern city such as Los Angeles or Rio de Janeiro.
In the film, Luhrmann has made many changes to it, but while still
keeping it's historical content, for example in the original
Shakespearean play, knives are used whereas in this film reproduction,
guns are used. Baz Luhrmann has modernized the film in the way that
modern audiences can understand and relate to it such as the use of
cars and helicopters.
This particular essay will be focusing on four main parts - The
Prologue, The Fight Scene, Baz Luhrmann's Portrayal Of the Characters
and my own opinions and the conclusion.
In the Prologue, at the very beginning, a short summery is introduced
in the form of a black women reading the news. The camera has quite an
old television set in the center of the screen with a black background
surrounding it. This can show some form of anachronism because it
shows a modern television set with a women reading the "news" which is
actually the prologue in old English. As the Prologue begins, the
television set slowly zoom...
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...he acts as though is is very
macho, but really on the inside, he is scared of fighting!
Luhrmann portrays Mercutio (Romeo's best friend) as a fast talking,
witty character. His costume is pretty laid back or casual. He is also
seen as a cross-dresser because of his humourous costume at the
Capulet's. He is also a drug addict and is quite mad! His random
shooting in the sea may suggest a mental illness or depression.
In my opinion, the prolouge is very messy and quite disastrous, but
this cames across as a good thing because it shows the mess, disaster
and destruction the families have caused.
I enjoyed the way Baz Luhrmann has included an audience in the key
scenes such as the Fight Scene because it is as though he has captured
our feelings and put them in the surrounding cowd so that we can
relate with them.
there and not just for the party to be shown off. Money is shown a lot
A Comparison of the Interpretations of Two Film Versions of Romeo and Juliet Having studied the openings of two film versions, the two directors Franco Zeffirelli and Baz Luhrmann, show they interpret the play differently because of the way they see different meanings in them. By interpreting the play differently, it also means the audience pick up a different meaning. Every image seen in the beginning decides whether the audience should continue with watching the film. But what makes a film so engaging?
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.
time and still can used as a modern story line in an modern film in
in the way he speaks in a sly voice. He is the perfect actor to play
The Techniques Luhrmann Uses to Draw his Audience into the Film Romeo and Juliet The film "Romeo and Juliet" is written by William Shakespeare but directed by Baz Luhrmann in this instance. This production was made in 1997. It is a modern film set in today's world therefore it differs from the original Elizabethan setting of 1595. The costumes, scenery and hairstyles are modern whilst the language is the same. The focus of this essay will be to analyse how the opening of the film is directed in order to make it compelling viewing.
‘Romeo and Juliet’ is a tragic play about two star crossed lovers written by Shakespeare in 1595. The play is a timeless teenage tradgedy. “The play champions the 16th Century belief that true love always strikes at first sight,” (Lamb 1993: Introduction) and even in modern times an audience still want to believe in such a thing as love at first sight. Act II Scene II the balcony scene displays that romantic notion perfectly.
The environment surrounding the star-crossed lovers in the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet can influence audiences who may interpret the scenes in different ways. The audience can be greatly affected in their interpretation of the story by the mise-en-scene, costuming, and the hidden symbolic meaning. This great piece of literature was edited in two unique and intriguing forms, one Zeferelli directed which was filmed in 1968, and the modern version produced in 1996. The different scenes throughout the length of the party were the most influential to me in that I saw how different these movies were directed, and the different meaning I experienced from watching these movies. Focusing on the environment of the scenes and the costuming helped me in my interpretation, because I found hidden symbolism from these two qualities.
He uses close ups of Romeo and Lord Capulet. The close up of Romeo is
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.
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,
out of the movie. He did this to shorten the movie and also to make it
Baz Luhrman Attracting a Teenage Audience Right From the Start of Romeo and Juliet Teenagers can relate to the issues of Romeo and Juliet but the way it is performed does not appeal to the younger audience. This is because of the Elizabethan language which is hard to understand, the dress which teenagers are not familiar with and the religious element which is not a large part of society any more. To attract a teenage audience Baz Luhrman changes some of these features; he uses modern dress instead of the typical Elizabethan style, a modern soundtrack and attractive and well known actors/actresses. This makes the production more familiar to teenagers because it uses some elements from their everyday life.
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.
How Baz Luhrmann Uses Props, Iconography, Costumes, and Settings to Create His Own Version of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet William Shakespeare’s best loved tragedy, Romeo and Juliet, has been portrayed in theatres and on film in many different ways. But none have been quite like Baz Luhrmann’s imaginative and unconventional adaptation. He has brought aspects of the plays Elizabethan origins and transfused them with a modern day background and created, what can only be described as a masterpiece. I believe that his use of Props, iconography costumes and the settings he has chosen has helped him to make this film such a great success. The settings of each scene have been specifically chosen to create a desired affect.