Luhrmann's Presentation of Act 3 Scene 1 of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

Luhrmann's Presentation of Act 3 Scene 1 of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

I think Luhrmann was successful in presenting Act 3 Scene 1 of Romeo

and Juliet. Luhrmann was able to present the movie in such a way that

people can understand the movie without actually understanding the

original text. He does this by decoding and unlocking Shakespeare's

original text for the audience. For example , in Act 3 Scene 1 ,

Mercutio says ' By my heel, I care not.' In the movie Mercutio puts

his heels on a table and says this. Luhrmann also names the guns as

sword, long sword and dagger like in Shakespeare's actual text.

Luhrmann was able to use the original text ( 16th century English) and

convey the spirit of the story to the modern viewers at the same time.

With one of Shakespeare's plays this can be hard to do. Luhrmann

succeeded in doing this. But Luhrmann cut some of the original text

out of the movie. He did this to shorten the movie and also to make it

easy for the viewers to understand. For example in Act 3 scene 1,

Luhrmann cuts out Mercutio's speech (Act 3 Scene 1, lines 15-28).

Luhrmann also puts Juliet in Act3 scene1 whereas Shakespeare puts

Juliet in Act3 scene 2, after the death of Tybalt. Juliet is shown

with a sudden shock when Romeo shots Tybalt to death as if she heard

the shot. Luhrmann does this to show that Juliet is part of Romeo.

Luhrmann uses a modern setting. In Luhrmann's version of Act 3 Scene 1

he uses cars, guns and 20th century clothing. This would make it more

easier for modern day people to understand the movie rather than

setting the film with a 16th century background. The original text of

Act 3 Scene 1 is clarified because it is articulated in familiar

images i.e. the beach instead of a market place. This makes people

feel concerned that it could happen today. We also see this in Act1

Scene 1, where the setting is in a gas station instead of a market