How Romeo and Juliet Speak and Behave in William Shakespeare's Play

How Romeo and Juliet Speak and Behave in William Shakespeare's Play

Romeo and Juliet is one of William Shakespeare's most famous plays,

but have also been adapted into films and musicals. The director of

the musical 'West Side Story' has taken the basic storyline of Romeo

and Juliet, twisted it slightly, written a new script and transformed

the setting into 1940s New York. Other directors have simply turned

the play into a film, and kept the script and storyline the same. Two

film directors, Baz Luhrmann and Franco Zeffirelli have made such film

adaptations of Romeo and Juliet - Zeffirelli's was made in 1968 and

Luhrmann's in 1997. The times that the two films came out are

extremely important, as they would have played a big part in how the

two directors portrayed their versions of the characters and setting.

1968 was a time when many people were 'hippies' and there was a lot of

'peace, love and romanticism'. This guides the Zeffirelli's Romeo and

Juliet's genre much more to the romantic style. The Luhrmann came out

after many action and war films such as Star Wars and Mission

Impossible, and in the opening scenes of the Luhrmann only the words

'A pair of star crossed lovers take their life' in the prologue can

give someone who didn't know the story of Romeo and Juliet the idea

that the film may have a romantic genre. There is a lot of fighting in

the opening, which would give it the feel of an action movie.

Despite being influenced by other films and the time that the films

were made, both productions are quite unique. The Zeffirelli was

unlike any other film that had been made before it, and the actor and

actress who played Romeo and Juliet were very young

The main difference between Zeffirelli and Luhrmann's versions is the

setting. Zeffirelli's film has been set in Medieval times in Italy,

and Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet has been set in modern Los Angeles,

therefore there would be quite a contrast between the costumes,

weapons, technology and setting.