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Baz luhrmann romeo and juliet review essay
Comparing film versions of Romeo and Juliet
Baz luhrmann romeo and juliet review essay
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Post-modernism in Baz Luhrmann’s film adaptation of William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet: a comparison of two creative works from two different periods.
In 1996, Baz Luhrmann directed “Romeo + Juliet”, a modern twist on the famous tragedy play by William Shakespeare in 1597 where the main characters Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet where portrayed by Leonardo Dicaprio and Claire Danes. While some praise the strange interpretation of the old tale, there are also those who condemn the rendition as a destructive and disrespectful to the great work of Shakespeare. There will always be two sides to every story and this work will take that into consideration as well as comparing the two different yet similar works to see how post modernism has played a role in Luhrmann’s version of Romeo and Juliet.
Baz Luhrmann decided to have a more modern look for the movie, settling on Verona Beach, a teeming seaside metropolis which has been destroyed by the ongoing dispute between Capulet and Montague for the location instead of Verona in Italy. This location consisted of high-rise buildings, gas stations, cars and fast food vendors which did not even exist at the time Romeo and Juliet was written or performed.
In addition to the location, Luhrmann chose to have a contemporary look for the costumes as well. For instance, in the opening scene the Montague boys are sporting Hawaiian shirts and artificially coloured hair whereas the Capulet boys wore leather and metal-heeled boots. This current approach is a major deviation from the traditional Elizabethan wear, location and facilities that were available.
In the film, there were no forced British and Italian accents as one would expect. This was because Luhrmann believed Shakespearean...
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...was one of the people who believed L “Luhrmann, who wrote the screenplay with Craig Pearce, turns the Montagues into flower-shirted, Miami Beach-like punks, who sport 9mm revolvers rather than swords”. (Howe, 1996)
Although Luhrmann’s loyalty to the original story may be questioned, his film has proven to be entertaining and successful. The film has outpaced the other adaptations of Romeo and Juliet and other Shakespearean plays as can be seen from the approximately 30 million dollars that it made through tickets and box office sales. Just as there are avid followers of the original tale by Shakespeare, Luhrmann’s version has a big fan base which, since its release 1996, has seen the film reach cult status and it can be said that Luhrmann has modernized Romeo and Juliet just as it can be said that he has ruined a brilliant masterpiece that was fine the way it was.
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.
Context has greatly influenced how Romeo and Juliet was written by William Shakespeare in the 1500’s to how Williams Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet was produced in 1996 by Baz Luhrmann with a more modern intention.
"Image is everything", says the commercial, and with movies being almost entirely dependent on the visual element, the phrase rings truer than ever. Olivier's version, along with being a "period piece", is done very much in the classic style; the stage is static, almost as if it were a play and not a movie. The sets are colorful and spacious, but they also have a simplistic feel, as though most of the budget went into the costumes (again, very much in the classic style). The movie brings us almost immediately to the throne room of King Edward IV, recently victorious in England's brutal civil war between the House of York and the House of Lancaster; the "Wars of the Roses". After all but Richard have exited, we hear Richard's opening soliloquy in its' entirety. The setting is very much what we call a "period piece"; the costumes, s...
Romeo and Juliet is a play about two lovers who have to risk their lives in order to demonstrate their love and will to stay together, regardless the feud between their families. By the end, the death of Romeo and Juliet finally bring the reconciliation to these two families. It is fate that the two most shall-not meet people fall in love and it love that eventually won against hatred. Since then, there have been many different versions of Romeo and Juliet, whether it was for film, stage, musicals. These different recontextualised adaptions change the original play by many ways, some modernise the language, environment, props as well as changing the original characteristics of some characters. Out of all the different adaptions of Romeo and Juliet, two stood out the most. One was the Romeo and Juliet (1996) and directed by Baz Luhrmann and the other one was Romeo and Juliet Broadway (2013) play version,
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 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.
Baz Luhrmann's Success of Making Romeo & Juliet Accessible to a Modern Audience. In this essay I am going to write about how successfully Baz Luhrmann made his film Romeo and Juliet accessible to a modern audience. Baz Luhrmann uses Shakespeare's authentic text, combining it with a modern setting. This combination attracts the off spring of the modern.
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.
How Baz Luhrmann Uses Props, Iconography, Costumes, and Settings to Create His Own Version of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet William Shakespeare’s best loved tragedy, Romeo and Juliet, has been portrayed in theatres and on film in many different ways. But none have been quite like Baz Luhrmann’s imaginative and unconventional adaptation. He has brought aspects of the plays Elizabethan origins and transfused them with a modern day background and created, what can only be described as a masterpiece. I believe that his use of Props, iconography costumes and the settings he has chosen has helped him to make this film such a great success. The settings of each scene have been specifically chosen to create a desired affect.
In 1996 an australian film director Baz Luhrman introduces the new adaptation of the ageless love story – “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare. The action is moved to America and happening in the end of 20th century. In an imaginary city Verona Beach the two powerful clans Montague (Anglo-Saxon) and Capulet (Latinos) brutally rival. The swords are substituted with the guns, the ancient costumes with jeans and shirts. The art director Catherine Martin didn’t have any lack of materials, since the 20th century brought a great variety of heels, lighters, shirts, bikers, rockers, leather, tattoos, piercing, etc. The creators originally approached the small details: the street posters
Luhrmann’s 1996 Romeo and Juliet is compelling when communicating the main ideas of the play by providing the audience with a modern translation of the play using the motifs in the film which correlate to the play.
One of the most celebrated plays in history, “Romeo and Juliet”, was written by William Shakespeare in the late 16th century. It is a story about two lovers that have to meet in secret because of an ongoing family feud. Tragically, because of their forbidden love Romeo and Juliet take their lives so they can be together. In 1997, a movie was adapted from the play “Romeo and Juliet”, directed by Baz Lurhmann. However, as alike as the movie and the play are, they are also relatively different.
The classic play Romeo and Juliet by the famous playwright William Shakespeare is one of the most beautiful love stories of all time and has captured and inspired readers everywhere. Regardless of the fact that it was written in the 1500’s, it is still being performed and extolled today. There is a multitude of reasons for such continuance of the play. First of all, its everlasting themes of love and hate enable people to deeply relate to the story. Secondly, its memorable characters deeply imprint on the minds of readers. And lastly, above all, is its magnificent language which many writers today regard in awe. These three elements make the acclaimed play, Romeo and Juliet, one of the most timeless stories of our lives.
Welcome to Verona Beach, a sexy, violent other-world, neither future nor past, ruled by two rival families, the Montagues and the Capulets...