Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

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Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

We have been set a task to compare the two films of Romeo and Juliet.

The fantastic William Shakespeare wrote the text in the 14th Century.

Franco Zefferelli and Baz Luhrman directed these films. The scene that

I am going to be focusing on is (Act 5 Scene 3) the heart throbbing

death scene. The Zefferelli version is more old fashioned and was set

in the period of time I think Shakespeare actually meant it for. This

version was directed in 1968 and set in medieval Italy. The Luhrman

version is more modern and dramatic, it was filmed in 1996 in America

and I think this was set in the future. The actors/actresses who

played the parts of Romeo and Juliet in the Zefferelli version were

Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey, they were young talented teenagers

with a great amount of potential. Luhrman took a much more different

approach in choosing the actors/actresses to play the parts of Romeo

and Juliet, he choose very well known stars unlike zefferelli .The

part of Romeo was played by Leonardo di Caprio and the part of Juliet

was performed by Clare Danes in the Luhrman version.

In my essay I am going to discuss both of the films and the way they

interpreted the scene I will also be comparing them against each

other.

In each film we can learn a lot from each character, simple settings,

symbols, expressions e.t.c. For example you know from where they lived

if they were rich or poor.

I am first going to be studying the death scene in the Zefferelli

version.

The Zefferelli Death Scene

Zefferelli directed this scene in 1968 and it is set in an actual tomb

the Capulets vault. For me the scene starts of when Balthasar informs

Romeo of Juliet's death. Romeo when he hears the horrid news of his

wife Juliet gets on the horse and rides very quickly thinking of only

one thing…Juliet. The music is very poignant and as Romeo draws closer

to the tomb the music increases in volume which is imitating his heart

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