Romeo And Juliet Opening Scene Analysis

Good morning/afternoon Ms Pritchard and 10B English, today I will be exploring two of the same scenes from different film versions of Romeo and Juliet. Each film was directed by different but equally professional directors to allow the audience to understand the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. The scene I am going to analyse is the party scene when Romeo and Juliet meet for the first time. The first film being discussed was directed by Baz Luhrman in 1996; an Australian director who loves to spice up his films to keep the audience on their feet. The second film was directed by Carlo Carlei in 2013; an Italian master mind of directing who prefers to stay true to his films and become one with the audience and the story being told. Both directors

are very successful in the way they have created film versions of Romeo and Juliet and I will now analyse each scene individually.
Baz Luhrman’s version of the meeting scene in Romeo and Juliet has been modernised although it is the oldest of the two films.

He uses many camera angles and film techniques to show the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet to a modern audience. Baz Luhrman’s use of Camera angles to convey an audience into his invited reading is second to none, He has managed to change the overall gist of the traditional Shakespeare version of Romeo and Juliet while still retaining the story line to suit a modern teen audience. An example of this is when Romeo is arriving at the Capulet party with a mask on and the invite in his hand after taking an ecstasy pill. Baz Luhrman uses a close up shot and slow motion camera movement to emphasise the fact that Romeo is disorientated because of the drugs. The tablet changes the context from a 70s or 80s to a modern 90s when ecstasy was very common and in ‘trend’. Baz Luhrman has efficiently dressed the real life characters to relate to their Romeo and Juliet meaning. Romeo is dressed as a knight in shining armour to resemble his brave courteous soul by being Juliet’s ‘savour’. Juliet is dressed as an angel to show her innocence and beauty. The antagonist Tybalt is costumed as the devil to resemble the evil that he brings to their relationship and lets the audience know that he is unwanted or bad. The song playing during the party is a well know pop/love song. Baz Luhrman uses it to show the upbeat personality of the characters and the atmosphere of the party.

The music tone changes in significant events like when Romeo is awoken from his ‘high’ of the drugs. The film was filmed in Mexico but resembles a very modern, young and vibrant beach rather than sticking to then romantic Verona setting. The language used by Baz Luhrman stays true to Shakespeare’s original language although the setting has not. I believe this lacks communication with a young audience and would be much more effective if the language was also modernised. Baz Luhrman has effectively positioned the audience to understand the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet as he intended. The modern culture of the film attaches itself to young adults and teens to help them better understand his invited reading. I will now discuss Carlo Carlei’s version of the same scene.
Carlo Carlei’s version of this scene stays true to traditional Shakespeare setting to help the audience understand the bare reality of Romeo and Juliet. This film was made in 2013 but is based in the 1600’s. The film techniques used by Carlo Carlei are very relatable to the invited reading. Carlei uses many slow close up shots to convey his opinion through the characters movement and facial expressions. I believe the characters in this film let down Carlei’s process of the tragedy. The characters show little emotion to what was needed and in comparison to Luhrman’s characters, they were very bland. This is directly shown when Romeo is told that Juliet is a Capulet. He says “Oh my dear god” with no real expression or intent. Romeo is looking down while saying this which just adds to the lack of drama, resulting in the lack of tragedy being shown. The costumes used by Carlei resemble the traditional party look very well and along with the use of music, help direct the audience to realise that the Setting is very traditional. The music is made by flutes and orchestral instruments, to suit the context of a 1600’s masquerade party and the characters are slow dancing in long waist tight dresses and suits. Carlei has decided not to use Shakespeare’s outdated language, which I believe is very well thought out. It helps attach Carlei’s invited reading to the audience and makes up for the lack of emotion and emphasis of the characters. Carlo Carlei’s intention was to bring the audience into the Elizabethan era and show them the traditional world of Romeo and Juliet. Using the language he has positioned the audience to understand and comply with the characters which helps make up for the lack of emotion in the tragedy of the scene.
I believe Baz Luhrman’s 1996 version of the scene is more effective to helping the audience understand and relate to the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet.

Baz Luhrman used filming techniques much more efficiently then Carlei and also used characterisation much better to relate to a modern audience. Luhrman Used clear changes in music and camera shots to convey his point of view on the tragedy making it much easier for the audience to pick up on. Although the language used is more supportive in Carlei’s version, I still think that Luhrman has provided a better balance of modern context to fulfil the audience’s needs while providing insight of William Shakespeare’s love Tragedy of Romeo and

Juliet.