Comparing Two Film Versions of Romeo and Juliet

Comparing Two Film Versions of Romeo and Juliet

For this assignment I shall be comparing two film versions of 'Romeo

and Juliet'. The first one was directed by Franco Zefferelli in1968

and the most recent version in 1997 by baz Luhrmann. I will be

comparing the opening scene (including the prologue) up to the end of

the first fight between the two families.

Before the directors even started filming they had to have a concept

in mind, an idea, a piece of art that they would ultimately like as

all directors would, to be recognised for his talent as well as the

goal of making money to further their careers. To be able to tell a

popular story such as the play 'Romeo and Juliet' that has a universal

theme which has defied time and language barriers as well as the

original has done. They both used the basic structure of the play

written by Shakespeare but took it in to entirely different

directions. Before both films could begin shooting they needed

somewhere that would give the right impression to set the scene to

keep the audience watching.

There were in comparison things they both used such as the younger

generations were the ones causing the trouble and making the noise

this helps to show that they were using the family's feud as a way to

show they were a stronger individuals as well as a stronger family in

all cases, business or otherwise. On the other hand the oldest

generations were given the impression that they were kept in to the

back ground or out of the way when the families fought. The atmosphere

was also different throughout the film as Zefferelli's was calm and

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... The character Mercucio was livened up in the

play with his vivacious camp type attitude but he still did the death

scene with great emotion. This means that the actors can also change

how things are seen and Luhrmann chose as I see it the right one.

I feel that the other version in my eyes lacked the excitement that

was needed to keep my interest. The characters besides Romeo and

Juliet didn't really have anything that truly separated them from each

other as individuals and was lost in the fight scene to a blur of

yellow, red and blue. The scenes were tedious and were dragged out far

too long. The only thing I thought seemed well put together was the

attention to detail on the costumes. Overall though the replication of

Shakespeare's play was very good and believe that people that went to

see it would have liked it.