Comparing The Opening Shots in Baz Luhrmann and Franco Zeffirelli's Versions of Romeo and Juliet

Comparing The Opening Shots in Baz Luhrmann and Franco Zeffirelli's Versions of Romeo and Juliet

This essay will compare two versions of 'Romeo and Juliet' directed by

Baz Luhrmann and Franco Zeffirelli. In order for me to comment on both

versions of 'Romeo and Juliet' I will compare the opening shots, the

way the main characters are introduced and the types of music and

costumes used in each version.

Baz Luhrmann's film takes place in contemporary America. The latest

version of Romeo and Juliet was filmed in 1997 at Verona Beach,

California. The director chose this area because it is somewhat exotic

and because it is seen as a city -state with its importance in

America. It's also an area young people find interesting because the

people there have a lifestyle young people aspire to. Baz Luhrmann's

setting was deliberately modern to make the story of Romeo and Juliet

more accessible to younger people and to show its relevance in the 20th

century. The background of petrol stations, highways and tall

buildings makes the setting familiar to a modern audience. In contrast

Zeffirelli's filmversion is set in Renaissance times. The sixties was

a time when young love was much to the fore with all its rebellion and

youth culture. It was filmed in 1968 on location in Verona in Italy

where Shakespeare's play was set. The props and clothes belong to the

Elizabethan times. Zeffirelli is trying to recreate the setting of

Romeo and Juliet as closely as possible to how Shakespeare imagined

it. This approach has more appeal to an older audience.

The prologue, which is a 14-line sonnet, is present in both versions

of 'Romeo and Juliet'. The sonnet i...

... middle of paper ...

...e of this camera shot is to disorientate and

stimulate the viewer.

In my opinion the Luhrmann film makes the themes of the story clearer

at the beginning by concentrating on the image of Jesus. He shows that

the film has a message because he sets out to show the lack of morals

and concern for life and how feuding can end in disaster for innocent

victims such as Romeo and Juliet. On the whole I think the Baz

Luhrmann film is more effective because it is set in the modern world

that we recognise and understand and also he makes the themes clear

from the outset which are love, hate, death and time.

Zeffirelli's version seems more like a filmed play and the attention

to historical detail makes it harder for the younger audience to

become interested right from the start of the film because it seems to

slow for them.