Baz Luhman and a More Accessible Romeo and Juliet to a Modern Teenage Audience

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Baz Luhman and a More Accessible Romeo and Juliet to a Modern Teenage Audience

Romeo and Juliet was written during the fifteenth century and the

language and style is Elizabethan. Today the language is seen as

incomprehensible to a young audience. This can cause many problems

because Shakespearean texts are compulsory for students to study

during their education. Usual responses to Romeo and Juliet are very

negative as teenagers find the story inaccessible. However the

essential storyline could be aimed at a young audience with themes of

forbidden love, violence and family feuds. Therefore the main problem

facing Luhrmann's film was not the plot but the language.

Luhrmann's film interpretation of Romeo and Juliet compensates for the

setbacks produced through language because Luhrmann has enclosed

modern day scenes, clothing and music to create a more exciting and

enthralling film, whilst still using the original Shakespearean

language from the text. This makes Luhrmann's adaptation of the play

very different from other versions on the market. It shifts away from

interpretations such as Zefferelli's, which does not meet teenage

desires.

The way in which Luhrmann has gone about altering Romeo and Juliet

means that the film is more appealing towards a younger generation and

therefore is targeted at the people who wouldn't normally be

interested in Shakespeare. This is because the action, violence and

style used by Luhrmann, gives teenagers something to relate to, as it

includes something which many young people are interested in or

something which they have encountered.

The first impression of a film is very important to...

... middle of paper ...

... responses to Shakespeare.

Elements such as these help a younger audience to relate to the film

and the themes within the plot. This means that the audience is more

likely to enjoy the film. I think that the way Luhrmann's has

introduced a mixture of modern day scenes with Shakespearean language

works very well together and successfully interests teenagers to the

story of Romeo and Juliet. However in some parts, I felt that the way

in which Luhrmann distinguished between the Capulet's and the

Montague's was too extreme, as their styles were very different and I

thought that the music was not necessary when they were already easily

identified.

I felt that the first scene was very appealing towards teenagers,

especially boys, due to the fast cars and violence, which are two

things commonly known to interest them.

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