Baz Luhrmann and Franco Zeffirelli’s Interpretation of the Prologue and Act 1 Scene 1 in “Romeo and Juliet” The story of Romeo and Juliet has been well known for many centuries. It has been interpreted and adapted by many people, including Shakespeare himself! Two of the most famous versions are the 1968 film by Franco Zeffirelli and the 1996 film by Baz Luhrmann. Each director has adapted the story for his own purposes. I am going to study how these two films have interpreted Shakespeare’s play in a modern style for a modern audience. I feel that each version will appeal to a different audience compared to the other. Language for example, should be closely reviewed as it has to be appropriate for the humour of the particular time in each film. This is because puns were very popular in Shakespearean times so throughout the play there is a great deal used. In the first scene Capulet’s servants, Sampson and Gregory, joke together by using puns. Here are two examples of the way they use them: “I strike quickly, being moved” “But thou art not quickly moved to strike”. And “…I will be civil with the maids; I will cut off their heads.” “The heads of the maids?” “Ay, the heads of the maids, or their maidenheads, take it in what sense thou wilt.” A modern audience however, would not find this humorous so the directors would have had to accommodate to this and adapt to it. The use of common, everyday language has also changed dramatically since the 16th Century so people today would not necessarily understand the plot if they went to watch ‘Romeo and Juliet’ in it’s original theatre form. Zeffirelli and Luhrmann both kept Shakes... ... middle of paper ... ...new setting for a new generation and I feel that Luhrmann has achieved this very well. This is because Shakespeare's plays were designed to adapt to any audience and with this in mind, Baz Luhrmann has created a film that applies to the modern audience through this updating. I also watched a part of “West Side Story”, however, this takes a very free view of its source material as it uses Shakespeare's tragedy for its plot value more than anything else. This is unlike Zeffirelli’s or Luhrmann’s as they have produced an interpretation of the film and included most of Shakespeare’s text. It is difficult to compare “West Side Story” to the other two versions as it departs so much from the story “Romeo and Juliet” that it is hardly recognizable as an adaptation. However, it does keep to the idea of the two rival gangs.
In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and Yukio Mishima’s The Sound of Waves, the secondary characters play an essential role in the book. In Romeo and Juliet by an English playwright and poet William Shakespeare, Friar Lawrence is an important secondary character who designs solutions for Romeo and Juliet and brings the play into the dramatic results. The failure of his plan causes the tragedy of death for both main characters at the end of the story. In The Sound of Waves, Shinji Kubo, a young and poor fisherman in Uta-Jima falls in love with Hatuse, a rich man’s daughter. Shinji and Hatsue try to be together throughout the book, but encounter many difficulties with their neighbors. Shinji’s mother tries to help Shinji and Hatsue by asking many people and going to shrines to beg the gods for help to get them together.
Comparing the Original Script of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet with Baz Luhmann's Film Version
Comparing the Opening Scene of the Franco Zeffirelli and Baz Luhrmann Film Versions of Romeo and Juliet
Franco zeffirelli and Baz Luhrmann both interpret William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet in their own unique styles. Although they use the same script written by Shakespeare, these two films are different in character, music and blocking. They both introduce the tragic tale of two star-crossed lovers that were kept apart by fate. When compared to Baz Luhrmann, Franco Zeffirelli’s comprehension of Act 2, scene 2 shows more accuracy to Shakespeare’s original work by placing the setting on a balcony, displaying the mood of the scene as more calm and peaceful and creating less emotion for Juliet.
Romeo & Juliet Romeo and Juliet was a tragedy, but it did not have to be. Many things could have been done to prevent their deaths. Many characters contributed to their deaths. The sole character that was responsible for their deaths is Friar Lawrence. Friar Lawrence is responsible for the deaths of the lovers because he was secretive with their relationship, he was unable communicate effectively, and he had a cowardly persona.
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would
Zeffirelli’s ultimate goal for his version of Romeo and Juliet was to capture Shakespeare’s original intentions for the play while targeting the teenage audience of his generation. Luhrmann’s intentions were different however; he changed the way an audience looks at Shakespeare’s masterpiece by modernising the props, costumes, and sets. Obviously, to match film time quotas Zefirelli and Luhrmann has both cut many lines out of the play.
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 done through the renewal of props and costumes, the reconstruction of the prologue and the upgrading of the setting, 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.
A character goes through many changes that depend on the kind of events they experience. The play “Romeo and Juliet” written by William Shakespeare, uses different tones and language that shows the readers that Juliet, a Protagonist, changes over time, proving the idea that she is a dynamic character. At the beginning of the play, we are introduced to a young, innocent and inexperienced girl, Juliet the daughter of Lord Capulet . She has not yet seen the real world and is raised by the person she trusts most, her nurse. Juliet begins as a naive child who has thought little about love and marriage, but she grows up quickly upon falling in love with Romeo, the son of her family’s great enemy. Due to the fact that Juliet is a girl in an aristocratic family, she has none of the freedom Romeo has to rome around the city, climb over walls in the middle of the night, or get into swordfights. As we begin to learn more about the character of Juliet, we learn that Juliet is not the girl she used to be anymore. She is more courageous and willing to break the rules. She goes against her and her family beliefs. In the beginning of the play she obeys her parents. But as the play descends Juliet is disregarding of what her parents say. She is no longer the innocent girl she use to be. Shakespeare use of language helps the reader to see the change in a character that makes them a dynamic character.
In one day we make a vast array of decisions, some seem small and some seem large but they all impact our destiny. There are many tough choices that we must make in our lives. Which college to go to? Who to marry? How we want to exist. When making our decision we consider ourselves and the ones we love and try to do the right thing, however we are human and so sometimes we make the wrong choice. Sometimes we are pressured by irrational emotion, society, or the glimmer of gratitude and riches. Sometimes we make a choice that seems right but has disastrous results. Every character in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet goes down the wrong path at some point and leads us to the tragic end. This reflects back on one of the main themes of Romeo and Juliet; that despite our best intentions we don’t always know best.
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 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.
...e tragic celebration of young, forbidden love told by William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, has been tailored for many motion picture adaptations. The most famous of these adaptations are Franco Zeffirelli’s version and Baz Lurhmann’s film produced in 1996. These two films applied Shakespeare’s most well-known work as a basis for their motion pictures. Both films had similarities, but the differences were much more apparent. Ever since William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet has been debuted, it has and forever will be an artistic influence for playwrights, directors, and other artists.
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.
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet used the literary device of foreshadowing to advance the tragic story of two teenage lovers. Foreshadowing was a warning or indication of an event that came later in the story. Shakespeare used many examples of foreshadowing to show an indication of the death or grave future of somebody. Shakespeare uses a few motifs, or reoccurring events, to tell the future.