Romeo and Juliet is a play about two adolescents—Romeo and Juliet from two hostile families fall in love with each other. This prohibited love ultimately turns into a romantic tragedy, in which they commit suicide for each other. Both Franco Zeffirelli’s (1968) and Baz Lurhmann’s (1996) versions retained the dialogues written by William Shakespeare in their movies. However, these two movies are directed in their own unique ways, which have several distinctive differences.
One major and the most notable difference in the films is the setting. The setting of the 1968 version is set in Verona, Italy with buildings, courtyards, and streets similar to the middle ages. It follows the play as closely as possible that effectively brings us back to
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In the 1968 version, it accurately portrays what people usually wear in the medieval time period, which is similar to the play. For example, men wear tights, frills and Robin Hood like hats. It also uses the color difference to distinguish between the Montague actors and the Capulet actors. The Montague family wears dark color clothes like dark blue and grey, whereas the Capulet family wears bright color clothes like orange and red. The custom also depicts the social class difference. In the party, Juliet wears a red beautiful dress, which creates a strong contrast with the Nurse who wears servant clothing. In the 1966 version, the customs are more modernized. Female wears more make up and fancy dress. Male wears Hawaiian shirts and sunglasses. The color of customs between Montague and Capulet also changed. Montague wears bright color clothes, with pink hair and tattoos. While, Capulet wear dark clothes, vests and tattoos. Besides, actors use guns not sword as their weapon to fight. The above shows that the 1996 version is more modern and more applicable to our daily …show more content…
The major difference of camera angles is in the significant scene—the balcony scene. In the 1968 version, the director retains the balcony scene in its movie. It uses low angle to show Romeo’s vision, how he looks up to the balcony on the tree. And it uses high angle to show Juliet’s vision, how she looks down to the tree on the balcony. The use of low angle and high angle emphasize the distant between Romeo and Juliet. Besides, it also indirectly shows that Juliet is from a wealthy family and Romeo is socially inferior towards her. However, in the 1996 version, the director replaces the balcony scene with a swimming pool scene. Romeo and Juliet talk to each other in the same level of vision. The use of eye level implies that they are equal in terms of social
A Comparison of Two Film Versions of Act 3 Scene 5 of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet
The Major Differences Between Two Film Versions of Romeo and Juliet The major differences between the two movies Romeo and Juliet who were
The original drama and the 1996 movie production have more differences than similarities that can be seen in comparing them both. The scenes and the language in the movie are easier to understand than reading the play because of the modern day setting and the conversational use of Shakespeare's language. In the movie, the hatred that is held between the Montague and Capulet families and leads to the destruction of the love that is found between Romeo and Juliet is portrayed more clearly than in the play. The feud between the two families can be seen in the characters and the scenes compared in the play and the movie.
...looked more modern, and the soldiers carried rifles that weren’t made at the time. Franco Zeffirelli brought out the classical hamlet, with castles, swords and the proper attire for that period. Nevertheless Kenneth Branagh brought the modern Hamlet, with modern weapons, trains and using a mansion instead of a castle.
Romeo and Juliet is a timeless, classic love story written by the incomparable William Shakespeare. Many of Shakespeare’s works are considered literary classics, but none are more loved than Romeo and Juliet. This play masterfully tells the love story of two teenagers in Elizabethan England. The title characters Romeo and Juliet are members of two feuding families, Romeo is a Montague and Juliet is a Capulet. There are different stylistic ways of portraying Romeo and Juliet, and the two most popular film versions portray two very different styles of this one play. Zeferelli's Romeo and Juliet was made in the 1970s, and is the film version most commonly shown in high school classrooms. The newest film version of this play is Baz Luhrmanns Romeo and Juliet. This version sets the classic story in a modern day setting. Both versions, while different stylistically, hold true to the basic story line of the play.
A Comparison of the Two Film Versions of Romeo and Juliet I have been studying the prologue to 'Romeo and Juliet' written by the
Romeo & Juliet (1968) was originally a play that was written by William Shakespeare, but as time progressed, plays became less popular and films became more popular. In 1968, Franco Zefirelli directed the film Romeo & Juliet that was nominated and won fifteen awards. Some of these awards are two Oscars, three Golden Globes, and five Silver Ribbon Awards. Romeo & Juliet is a romantic tragedy about forbidden love between two young teens whose families despise one another (CITE). Juliets family is referred to as “the Capulets”, and Romeo’s family are “the Montagues” (CITE). Zefirelli uses lighting and framing to capture the audience’s attention and design to reflect that the Capulets and Montagues during the Medieval time era. Meanwhile, he portrays
One more major difference is the Capulet’s tomb. In the book the tomb was said to be dark and dingy. Though in the movie the tomb appeared to be a beautiful almost church like cathedral the tomb had many candles around where Juliet laid. Also she does not lie in a coffin but in a beautiful bed that is encompassed by white sheets.
Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare, is a tragic love story about two young lovers who are forced to be estranged as a result of their feuding families. The play is about their struggle to contravene fate and create a future together. As such, it was only a matter of time before Hollywood would try to emulate Shakespeare’s masterpiece. This had been done before in many films. Prominent among them were, Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 “Romeo and Juliet” and Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 “William Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet.” Both films stay true to the themes of Shakespeare’s original play. However, the modernised Luhrmann film not only maintains the essence of Shakespeare’s writings, Luhrmann makes it relevant to a teenage audience. This is done through upgrading of the setting, the renewal of props and costumes, the use of water symbolism and the reconstruction of the prologue, whilst preserving the original Shakespearean language. Out of the two, it is Luhrmann who targets Romeo & Juliet to a younger audience to a much larger extent than Zeffirelli.
The different sets used by both directors are another way of showing how different each version is. Zefirelli set his version in Italy, and based it in the 16th centu...
For example, in the Zeffirelli version, as Romeo see Juliet, she is on her balcony in a white dress. Additionally, in the Luhrmann version, Juliet is wearing a white dress as well. This shows that both the Zeffirelli and Luhrmann versions are similar because they both have Juliet wearing a white dress to symbolize her purity, innocence, and beauty. During this scene in both versions, as Romeo finds Juliet, he sees Juliet in her white dress and calls her an angel because she’s beautiful. Not only is the balcony scene similar in both the Zeffirelli and Luhrmann versions because of Juliet’s coloured dress but there is romantic music playing in the background. For example, in both versions during the balcony scene, romantic music plays when Romeo and Juliet see and speak with each other. This shows that the Zeffirelli and Luhrmann versions are similar, since they both have romantic music playing in the background to show how deeply in love Romeo and Juliet are. By having both movie versions use amorous music, this tells us that both movie directors wanted to show how strong Romeo’s and Juliet’s love for each other are. In addition, the balcony scene is similar in both the Zeffirelli and Luhrmann versions because of the amorous music, including we hear animal noises as well. For example, in the Zeffirelli
Even though the themes were similar, the plot of the movie and the play were rather different. In the movie, Mercutio, Romeo’s friend, got an invitation to Lord Caplet’s ball where Romeo and Juliet meet, but in the movie Romeo and this friends go to Lord Capulet’s party uninvited. What's more, is that when Romeo was at the ball he was recognized by Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin, from the sound of his voice in the play, but in the movie Tybalt sees him. In addition to that one scene where Juliet was hysterical because she thought Romeo was dead was completely absent in the movie.
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,
In the book it is supposed to be set in around the 1500’s. In the movie it’s supposed to be set around the 1900’s. The clothing changed to. In the book the clothing was Elizabethan style. In the movie they wore modern clothing. They even changed the families profession. In the movie they’re rich and royal families fighting. In the movie their corporations that are running against one another. Even how Romeo acts changed a bit. In the movie before going to the party, Romeo takes ecstasy; however, in the book he does not. They even changed how he snuck in the Capulet’s house. In the movie he only did it at night, but in the book he was never able to sneak in the house because of security. There’s also a small detail left out of the movie. In the book they had a clown, or jester. In the movie they had no need for a clown, or jester. They even changed the transportation. In the book they rode horses everywhere. In the movie there were no horses, they used vehicles instead. To give it a more modern feel, since it is in the modern
In this version of Romeo and Juliet, Juliet is wearing a short knee length dress with no sleeves and her hair is slicked to one side. Everyone's appearances, especially Juliet's, have been modernized to look futuristic, fashionable and following the new era. In opposition to Juliet's personality in the first and second film written about above, in this version, Juliet is more expressive. This is shown when the nurse comes to tell Juliet some news. Her emotions are very evident through her facial expressions. She goes from being sad and frowning to happy and beaming with a smile. It is really clear to tell when Juliet is feeling something. Juliet´s actions are staying consistent with this version of the film too. In the famous balcony scene, Juliet is seemingly expressing her feelings for Romeo without her knowing that he is there listening too every bit of what she is saying. This is shown in all the versions because it's very significant to the play. It illustrates young love and a tragic flaw that lovers posses, which is impulsiveness.