Baz Luhrman's Film Romeo and Juliet
In the film "Romeo and Juliet", Baz Luhrman said that he was trying to
recreate the impact of the original Elizabethan production for a
modern mass audience. I am trying to find out the challenges he faced
and how he solved them and say how successful he was in making the
script work for a modern audience.
The problems faced by a modern director of "Romeo and Juliet"
Shakespeare's original audience and theatre and the style and drama
Shakespeare's original audience was made up of the whole social range.
At one end of the social scale were the working people. These were
known as the groundlings because they were poor. They paid less and so
they had to stand up throughout the whole performance. Richer people
were seated on galleries and also on the balcony. The Queen at that
time (Queen Elizabeth I) also went to the theatre. The style of drama
at that time would seem boring to a modern audience such as: the
clothing, setting, sound, props. In those days the audience wanted
action, this was shown at the beginning, also in act 3 scene 1
(between Romeo and Paris), the audience wanted high drama, violence
and also comedy. The comedy that Shakespeare included in his play was
quite rude e.g. act 1 scene 1 "maidenheads" also Mercutio was being
sexually rude "knockabout", also the servants in act 1 scene 5 doing
verbal wordplay such as the word "puns" was included. In those days
this comedy was funny but now it is not known about and does not seem
funny to us. The audience wanted romance which Shakespeare included
through Romeo and Juliet and the passion created between them. The
audience wanted bl...
... middle of paper ...
...also the film was only to last for 115
minutes so if he added that scene then he wouldn't have been able to
do the other scenes and if he did they wouldn't be much detailed and
long. Overall I think Baz Luhrman has produced a very good and modern
version of Romeo and Juliet.
Evaluation
In this essay I had to write about the media used in the film Romeo
and Juliet especially act 3 scene 1 and I think I have achieved that.
From this essay I learnt how to write about media and also the camera
use. I found the sound effects (FX) hard to write about but I tried my
best. I found writing about the modern and olden audience comparing
part easy. I used the plan to write my essay because this helped me
write a detailed essay and also it helped me decide what things to
write about. I think I have written a detailed essay.
William Shakespeare's "The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet," set in 16th century Verona, Italy shares differences with Baz Luhrmann's "Romeo + Juliet," set in modern day Verona Beach. These stories contain the same characters and conflict, however major and minor discrepancies are galore in the story lines of both formats of William Shakespeare's creation. Some major inconsistencies occur, such as Mercutio dying at a beach, portrayed as a hero, instead of being at a bar, looking like a fool, Friar Lawrence's letter is successfully sent to Romeo by mail carriers, however he does not have the opportunity to read it, unlike in the play version, where Romeo does not get the letter from Friar John, and is told the news by Balthazar, and nobody being at Juliet's tomb to stop Romeo from reaching Juliet, unlike in the play, Paris was there to pay his respects to Juliet. In addition to the major inconsistencies, minor ones are included throughout, such as Romeo and Juliet first seeing each other through a fish tank, then kissing in the elevator, not the dance, the famous balcony scene occurring in a pool, not on an actual balcony, and Juliet pointing a gun at Friar after she points it to herself, threatening to commit suicide. These inconsistencies probably occurred in the play to add a modern and entertaining twist to the Shakespearean classic, leading to the same denouement in both versions of "The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet."
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.
in the way he speaks in a sly voice. He is the perfect actor to play
“Here’s to my love! Drinks. O true apothecary! Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die.” (V.iii.119-120). This is a quote out of Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet detailing rash decisions of people madly infatuated. In this play, two lovers (Romeo and Juliet) have a relationship that is shown to be quite shallow. In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare uses idioms, allusions, and monologues to show that Romeo and Juliet have a shallow relationship.
The environment surrounding the star-crossed lovers in the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet can influence audiences who may interpret the scenes in different ways. The audience can be greatly affected in their interpretation of the story by the mise-en-scene, costuming, and the hidden symbolic meaning. This great piece of literature was edited in two unique and intriguing forms, one Zeferelli directed which was filmed in 1968, and the modern version produced in 1996. The different scenes throughout the length of the party were the most influential to me in that I saw how different these movies were directed, and the different meaning I experienced from watching these movies. Focusing on the environment of the scenes and the costuming helped me in my interpretation, because I found hidden symbolism in these two qualities.
the cinema is the director's. Romeo and Juliet is a feast for the eyes and
Romeo and Juliet presents an ongoing feud between the Montague and Capulet families whose children meet and fall in love. Markedly, the meeting scene depicting love at first sight continues to be praised by today’s critics. Romeo and Juliet then receive the label of star-crossed lovers whose tragic demise is written in the stars. In fact, Shakespeare 's work is well received and its numerous adaptations have made it one of his most enduring and notorious stories. The cinematic world brings to the screens a disastrous approach by Baz Luhrmann to do the play justice. A glance at Baz Luhrmann’s productions allows audiences to assume he delivers movies which are unlike those of any other filmmaker today, or perhaps ever. Therefore, blending a delicate
Baz Luhrmann's Production of William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Julie in Baz Luhrmann's production of William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet", our expectations are swept aside and a modern film appears. When I sit down to watch one of Shakespeare's plays, I expect to see medieval clothes in a rural setting with plenty of poor people. I also expect the words and acting to blend together harmoniously. Instead Baz Luhrmann chose to set the opening scene at a beachside, gas. station.
William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is fully summarized in Shakespeare's prologue: "Two households, both alike in dignity, in fair Verona where we lay our scene. From ancient grudge break to new mutiny where civil blood make civil hands unclean. From forth the fatal loins of these two foes, a pair of star crossed lovers who take their life" (Universal, 1996). This movie is a masterful culmination of the director's phenomenal ability to create a powerful introduction, to select a realistic, but surreal setting, to choose realistic actors, and to enact specialized dramatic effects.
...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, 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.
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.
“The most filmed of all plays, ‘Romeo and Juliet’, with its universal themes… remains uniquely adaptable for any time period,” (Botnick, 2002). Directors Franco Zeffirelli (1968) and Baz Luhrman (1996) provide examples of the plays adaption to suit the teenage generation of their time. Identifying the key elements of each version: the directors intentions, time/place, pace, symbols, language and human context is one way to clearly show how each director clearly reaches their target audience. Overall however Luhrman’s adaptation would be more effective for capturing the teenage audience.
In Romeo and Juliet, Juliet is one of the main characters. I have learned that she is quite rash and bold and that she falls in love quickly. Juliet doesn’t really change throughout the play.I would not consider doing what Juliet does in the friar’s plan .The friar’s plan for Juliet had a chance to work in the beginning, but due to the unfortunate circumstances it doesn’t work out.
The story "Romeo and Juliet" of Shakespeare is like a picture of love which contains not only the images of a beautiful and pure love of two teenagers; the two beings created for each other feel mutual love at the first glance but also of a feud; a long-standing hostile of two families; the Montagues and the Capulets and fate of people; the pitiable fate of Romeo and Juliet who win the feuding by a true love but are unable to win their fate.