Analysis of a Scene from Luhrmann's Production of Romeo and Juliet

Analysis of a Scene from Luhrmann's Production of Romeo and Juliet

It seems interesting at first that Baz Luhrmann should choose to

rework Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet into a modern movie. However,

when you think about the aims of a modern film-maker such as wanting

to really affect the audience and create a series of moving and

powerful images shot through with dialogue, then it is less surprising

that Romeo and Juliet was Luhrmann's choice. Shakespeare's play is

filled with emotion and suspense, so had limitless potential to be

made into a great movie. Luhrmann adapted the play for the big screen

very effectively, managing to portray the emotion of the film using

visual storytelling techniques that had not been available to

Shakespeare at the time he wrote and staged it, for example elaborate

sets. One of the scenes where Luhrmann portrays the emotion and drama

of the story superbly is Act 3, Scene 1. It is possible to consider

how effectively Luhrmann adapted this scene by studying the different

techniques he employed in reworking it from the play into part of a

movie adaptation of Romeo and Juliet.

The soundtrack complements the movie, and was used in this particular

scene to help set the mood. Music in the movie is used to build

tension, convey emotions and create links between other scenes in the

movie. For example, whenever the viewer sees Tybalt and the Capulet

boys together, wild western music can be distinctly heard. Be it at

the petrol station in the opening of the movie or on Verona beach, the

wild western music is consistently associated with them. When they

walk onto the beach out of their car, the way they swagger ...

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...ecide what to include and how to shoot the scene to convey the

emotion that fuels it, indeed one of Luhrmann's main concerns when

shooting this movie was staying true to Shakespeare's original play.

Luhrmann had an advantage over Shakespeare in that he could visually

show a lot of the emotion and feeling that Shakespeare had to have his

characters explain when he staged it. Where Luhrmann has omitted text

from the original play, he has shown the emotion that was expressed in

the text through the actions of characters and, among other factors,

sets, lighting and music. So while Shakespeare supplied the wonderful

story behind Luhrmann's adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, it is Luhrmann

who successfully turned the play into a modern day movie that stayed

true to Shakespeare's play while being suited to a modern day

audience.