A Comparison of Two Film Versions of Act 3 Scene 5 of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

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A Comparison of Two Film Versions of Act 3 Scene 5 of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

The two versions I have studied are Franco Zeffirelli’s paramount film

and Alvin Rakoff’s BBC version. Both films were produced in the

1960s. The BBC film is aimed at students studying the play but

Zeffirelli’s version is aimed at a much wider cinema audience. I

think that it is the much larger budget and involvement of a world

famous director that makes the paramount film much more successful.

Zeffirelli’s version is well acted and the performance of Olivia

Hussey and Leonard Whiting make the film seem more realistic. The

scene opens at dawn and the two lovers are in bed. The camera gives a

close up of their faces, which is very effective, because it

emphasizes how young they are and how peaceful and contented they seem

to be together. There is a warm atmosphere in the room I think this

is because there is pink filter on the camera lens, which also makes

it look very romantic. When the camera pans out from the two lovers

we can see that the room is softly lit by early morning light. The

rosy glow suggests dawn, which it is supposed to be. This film is

more realistic than the BBC’s in the sense that both Romeo and Juliet

are naked which implies that they are in love and have just spent a

night of passion.

Juliet tries to convince Romeo that it is not morning “wilt thou be

gone? It is not yet near day”. Juliet is still half sleeping when

she says this but then realises that it is morning and Romeo could be

killed if found. When the nurse comes to warn Juliet that “your Lady

mother is coming to your chamber” she does not enter Juliet’s room,

instead she remains outside. This preserves the feeling of Romeo and

Juliet not yet having their relationship spoiled by the outside

world. It also makes the warning seem more urgent, especially because

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