Romeo and Juliet is a true lovers’ tragedy, an epic masterpiece written by William Shakespeare in the peak of his creativity. It bears the existential dilemma of how to chase true love when all the odds are undeniably stacked against the seeker. The original play, first published in 1597, features the troubled paths of two star crossed lovers whose families despise each other with passion in deep extents. Over the centuries, there have been many interpretations of this play in various forms ranging from children’s books to movies, but the focus of this essay is in one movie in particular. In 1996 Baz Luhrmann released a movie interpretation of Romeo and Juliet, which added some interesting changes, to say the least, to the well renowned …show more content…
In the play, Romeo runs up behind Tybalt and provokes him to start a duel. They both have swords in the play and it is an even duel which Romeo wins (Shakespeare 3.1), unlike the movie where Romeo completely disarms Tybalt, takes his gun and shoots him three times, which implies the Romeo is blinded by rage and need for avengement, which is not the real point. The point of the story of Romeo and Juliet is not to highlight the way that each character died, but rather the mere fact that they died. The deaths are each meaningful, contributing to the moral whereas the special effects and explosive scenes are purely for money and not to address the meaning of Shakespeare’s work. By using modern costumes instead of Elizabethan style costumes the director ends up portraying the Capulets and Montagues as ignorant common criminals and gangsters instead of two powerful rival families. This is shown when Mercutio cross-dresses as a woman and comes already under the influence of ecstasy at the Capulet party, which, in turn, made him and the rest of his Montague gang seem like a group of reckless young kids that don’t really know what they’re doing. In the play, everybody at the party wore a mask that had some representation of their personality (Shakespeare 1.5). This made the costumes that people wore to the party seem more relevant, as opposed to the movie where all the costumes were random and meaningless. A key factor in
Baz Luhrmann, a well known film director, adapted this love story to film in 1996, which is called Romeo and Juliet. William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, is a tragedy about two young lovers who cannot be together because their families are enemies. Baz Luhrmann directed 'William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet' recounts the Romeo and Juliet story utilizing Shakespearean Language set as a modern day environment. Not all viewers would recognize the language of Shakespeare so the mise en scene and additionally the performers' developments are essential to ensure that the audience recognizes what is happening inside of the dialog. In this essay, I will talk about whether Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and Baz Luhrmann's film updates Shakespeare
Romeo and Juliet is a timeless story about two ill-fated lovers. Originally written by, Shakespeare, this story has been adapted by different directors who all commonly try to add their own unique twist to it. Two of the most prevalent adaptations of Romeo and Juliet have been done by Franco Zeffirelli and Baz Luhrmann, who have taken this love story to the big screen. Franco Zeffirelli’s movie, which was produced in 1968, is extremely authentic and stays true to Shakespeare's vision, whereas, Baz Luhrmann’s version produced in 1996, is contemporary and appeals more to younger audiences. There are various differences and a couple of similarities between Zeffirelli’s and Luhrmann’s movie versions such as the costumes, their interpretations of
There were quite of few differences between William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet play and Baz Luhrmann’s movie based on the play. For example, the ending scene in the movie left out a lot. Paris never showed up at the cemetery to place flowers at Juliet’s tomb. Thus, Paris and Romeo never got in a quarrel that had ended in Paris’s death. Baz Luhrmann probably left out this small part in the movie because Paris wasn’t a major character in the movie. Also at that part in the scene there was already a lot going on, so leaving out that fight between Romeo and Paris wouldn’t have taken a huge toll in that certain scene. In the play that small detail told the readers that Paris’s love was true for Juliet. However by leaving out that part out in the movie it didn’t tell the audience if Paris was actually into the marriage for true love. Also Juliet was awake before Romeo died as well. However he didn’t notice that she was awake quick enough before he had drank the poison. By having Juliet wake before Romeo passed away made that
When Juliet hears that the wedding has been moved up to the next day, she drinks the
The tragedy, “Romeo and Juliet” was originally a play created by William Shakespeare, one of many world famous plays by the same. This play has been converted into its intended style many times in the past, the earliest version in 1968 was directed by Franco Zeffirelli, the latest film in 1996 by Baz Luhrmann. The latter is quite modern and only occassionally uses the words of Shakespeare. On the contrary, the older version was very traditional, and almost completely stuck to the original script. In this essay, I will compare the modern day film to the traditional version of the tragic play, “Romeo and Juliet.
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 and 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
William Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet, tells the story of the tragic love between Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet. The play has been reinterpreted throughout time and Baz Luhrmann’s film version, William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet, uses a modern setting to tell the tale. Luhrmann’s cinematic understanding reinforces the key themes of love, fate and hate as he explores Shakespeare’s famous play.
The secrets begin to unfold in Act 1 Scene 4 when Benvolio, Romeo, and Mercutio enter in masks on their way to the Capulets’ party. They attempt to enter unnoticed and in secret. This event becomes the cause of the unfortunate misadventures of the characters in Romeo and Juliet
“For there was never a story more of woe/ Than this of Juliet and her Romeo” (Shakespeare V, III, 309-310). These words spoken by the Prince of Verona prove in itself that there isn’t a love story anything like Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is by far the best love story because of all the different types of love that are present. There are many different forms of love in the play but, the ones that show the most are unrequited love, friendship and romantic love.
The portrayal of adolescence in film is a relatively new concept, and one that many directors have attempted in their career to varying results. Some directors are able to capture the awkward, bumbling phase of adolescence perfectly. However, there are some representations of teenagers that cause much debate, and can generally leave viewers confused about the director’s intentions. On one hand, a director can undoubtedly celebrate teenage culture through a variety of techniques, however on the other hand they can criticise teenagers and their aimed demographic, in some cases simultaneously, and especially when adapting Shakespeare. William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet is an adaptation that has stirred much controversy since its release,
The audience sees this in Act I, Scene I when Gregory and Sampson pick a fight with the Montague servants, Abram and Balthasar, which eventually turns into a nasty brawl with Benvolio, Tybalt, and the citizens of Verona. The absolute insanity of the feud is shown when both old men join the fray and Capulet asks for his sword. Lady Capulet says, “A crutch, a crutch! Why call you for a sword?” This means that even though Lord Capulet is old, his everlasting hatred for the Montagues is still burning
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.
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. Shakespeare shares a story about an extended feud between the Montague and Capulet families which impacts the love of Romeo and Juliet, causing them to suicide in distress. Many movies have been filmed based on this remarkable story and each have a unique and interesting way of telling it. Focusing on two of the major interpretations by Baz Luhrmann and Franco Zeffirelli, there are many enjoyable and inadequate scenes. After comparing the two movies, Baz Luhrmann’s movie interprets the infamous balcony scene and effectively displays Shakespeare’s intentions by showing the true love and emotion of the two forbidden star crossed lovers.
Baz Luhrmann's 1996 film, Romeo + Juliet effectively appropriates the Shakespearean 16th century love tragedy. So why has Luhrmann decided to appropriate Romeo and Juliet? By changing the context, Luhrmann effectively makes the play relevant, discussing his contextual concerns of the 1990’s. This is done through the use of themes in the film, love, family disputes and hate which have remained similar to the original play, although the way they have been presented are different, in particular the form and characters. The form has had an obvious change as the original play has been adapted into a film. Characters in the film have also been appropriated to correspond with Luhrmann's contextual concerns. Hence, Luhrmann successfully appropriates the original Shakespeare play, Romeo and Juliet by maintaining similar themes, but altering the form and characterisation to fit his contextual concerns.
Romeo and Juliet, a classic play by William Shakespeare, is known to many as a tragedy. But what makes this play tragic? Audiences favor this story because of the emotions evoked from a tale of love that sees two young souls torn apart. However, Romeo and Juliet when under my own definition of tragedy, does not resemble a tragic play. While the death of Mercutio and the deaths of Romeo and Juliet seem tragic, the story does not show one failing when trying to reach their full potential, instead the audience sees a forbidden love and death as a result, which does not demonstrate tragedy. Instead, Romeo and Juliet face flaws from within their families and society, forcing them to stay apart due to conflict. While both Romeo and Juliet try to reach the goal of being together and fail, the flaws of others cause the conflict, not the flaws of themselves. My definition surrounds the idea that the flaws of oneself leads to his or her demise, meaning that the play misses a key characteristic of the definition of tragedy. Both characters seem to die a “tragic death,” however, their death can only be considered sad or upsetting, especially to the audience. This play instead consists of somber scenes that show aspects of a tragedy, but not enough to place this play in a tragic category in the classic definition or in my own definition because the flaws of the main characters do not cause the fall of the characters as they try to reach their full potential. If a character who fell as a