How to Account for the Success of Romeo and Juliet by Baz Luhrmann

How to Account for the Success of Romeo and Juliet by Baz Luhrmann

“The play re-worked for MTV.” This is just one of the many ways Baz

Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet has been described after the director

dramatically changed the way the world sees Shakespeare. The

controversial film shows us just how important Shakespeare still is no

matter how you try to change it. The classic, original play will

always be present in some way. The film’s success came with great

publicity, as this was the first time Shakespeare had been radically

updated to suit the teenage population and show us just how

Shakespeare keeps in touch with the modern world. The film was a

success because it was transformed and updated into the modern ages

and was still able to keep many elements of Shakespeare still

noticeably clear, with lines from other plays dotted all around Romeo

and Juliet to really show us just how the phrases and words of

Shakespeare relate to modern times. The film was described as “radical

invention of a classic text.” This shows us how easy it is to change

the way people think of an old classic text. The setting, the

costumes, the actors and the way he has cut the script all add up to

how Luhrmann has managed to change the way the world looks at

Shakespeare just in one simple film. His work on Romeo and Juliet will

definitely go down in history as he has managed to pull in a great

audience from the younger generation. This film immediately changed

the meaning and image of how people see Shakespeare. The image has

been changed from an old, outdated play written for people to enjoy

hundreds of years ago, into a film which attracts all kind of view...

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.... The use of film devices and the setting of

the film helped keep it in touch with the original play. He updated

the play and was also able to keep many aspects of Shakespeare still

alive in the film. His casting was important to keep it in touch with

the younger generation. I think that the success of this play was down

to the way he managed to successfully change many aspects of the play

and make it more appealing to the youth generation. The film has many

appealing parts to it and helps keep it more in touch with the youth

generation. My overall opinion of the film is that it is well worked

out and was very well edited to make it more appealing to the younger

audience. He has successfully managed to update the play and in all

has managed to make it a more interesting play and film at the same

time.