The Techniques Used in Baz Luhrman's Interpretation of Romeo and Juliet
Baz Luhrman's ' Romeo and Juliet' uses modern settings, clothes and
weapons.
The film is set in Verona, Italy. The play is about two people from
feuding families who fall in love.
At the beginning of the film ther is a small television screen in the
centre of the screen. A newsreader is reading the prologue from Romeo
and Juliet. It grabs your attention because the newsreader is talking
in old English. It makes sure the viewers are listening and makes
Shakespeare's text seem relevant to the modern world.
There is a change of scene, with a long shot of two towers one with
Capulet on top of it and one with Montague. These are the names of the
two feuding families. This shows the two families are very important
and powerful.
It also emphasises the importance of the feud.
The music is dramatic, it makes you feel like the film will be action
packed. When the music ends the words ' two star crossed lovers' is
shown, this is from the prologue. The screen then goes black and in
white letters it says 'take their lives' . The letter t represents a
cross to show death, this emphasizes the idea of destiny or fate.
The characters are then shown one by one in freeze frame with their
name. The Prince of Verona is now the chief of police. He has been
given a modern posistion that has authority, similar to a Prince.
The first scene starts with Romeo, Benvolio and Mercutio in a car
playing rap music. They drive to a petrol station and stop. They are
laughing and joking until a black car pulls into the petrol station.
Suddenly, the Montagues go quiet and watch the car carefully. A close
up shot shows the car door open and Tybalt gets out. The camera only
shows his feet. He is wearing black boots with big silver heels.
The camera zooms out and the viewers can see the whole of Tybalt, he
out of the movie. He did this to shorten the movie and also to make it
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,
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.
Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and Baz Lurhmann's Film Version Previously, in Act 2 Scene 6, we have seen Romeo and Juliet marrying one another thus binding the Montagues with the Capulets together. The marriage had to take place in secret, due to the war between the two families. We see at the beginning of Act 3 Scene 1, the behaviour between Romeo, Mercutio and Tybalt reflect the hatred between the Montagues and Capulets. Throughout this essay I shall be looking at the main characters of Act 3 Scene 1, also I will discuss the way Shakespeare presents the characters in the play and in contrast with Baz Lurhmann's film of Romeo and Juliet, to see if Lurhmann adds anything to how the characters are represented in the film. At the start of act 3 scene 1 we see Mercutio's arrogance, as when confronted by Tybalt, he tells him that he "will not budge".
Examine other beauties!” (1.1.236). The Capulets hire the help of a servant to send out invitations for the feast, and Romeo accidentally gets an invitation.... ... middle of paper ...
costumes, the actors and the way he has cut the script all add up to
music changes to show that she is sad. We then get a close up of
Baz Luhrmann's Success of Making Romeo & Juliet Accessible to a Modern Audience. In this essay I am going to write about how successfully Baz Luhrmann made his film Romeo and Juliet accessible to a modern audience. Baz Luhrmann uses Shakespeare's authentic text, combining it with a modern setting. This combination attracts the off spring of the modern.
in the way he speaks in a sly voice. He is the perfect actor to play
The first character is Romeo Montague. Shakespeare uses figurative language when he says “arise fair sun, and kill the envious moon”(2.2.5). Romeo for first to Juliet is the sun and once her to show herself when watching from the balcony. Romeo states “ two
He uses close ups of Romeo and Lord Capulet. The close up of Romeo is
Servingman - Daniel Radcliffe. 4th Servingman - Tom Felton. Capulet - Al Pacino Cousin Capulet - Robert de Niro. Tybalt - Jackie Chan Nurse - Kacey Ainsworth Benvolio - Matt le Blanc. Juliet - Catherine-Zeta Jones Romeo - Keanu Reeves Section 1 Set in a modern kitchen, there are drawers all the way around and a.. gas in the middle of the sand.
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.
said by the chorus. This means it is an idea of a group of people
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.