The Success of Baz Luhrmann's Romeo And Juliet

The Success of Baz Luhrmann's Romeo And Juliet

Baz Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet was highly successful. The film sold

millions at the box office and was well received by critics such as

Paul Matthews who said that Romeo and Juliet was a, "radical invention

of a classic text". Although the film was released to late in the year

to receive any awards, "William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet" was and

always will be considered a classic. The reason for the film's success

was because the film was made accessible to young people in a way that

Shakespeare usually isn't by giving it modern location and using

special effects. The film makers wanted to knock Shakespeare down and

put him where he belongs which is on billboards in Time Square and

posters in adolescents' bedrooms. The problem was that Shakespeare

wrote in a obscure language which was Elizabethan and 90% of the world

can't understand it, so the Shakespearian text was made understandable

with the modern day images in the film. The film contradicted

expectations, when young people hear the word "Shakespeare" they

usually think of dull and boring plays for older people, but Baz

Luhrmanns version of the play was the complete opposite.

One of the main reasons that the film was such a success is because of

Baz Luhrmann's use of film devices. The film was given a unique and

modern look; this was done to make the film more appealing to the

younger audience. The unique and modern look is achieved by the use of

camera shots, music and costume.

Luhrmann used up to date modern music which appealed to younger

people. I think the music used in the play helped make scenes seem

more dramatic, a...

... middle of paper ...

...te a classic story that has

been retold for centuries, Baz Luhrmann then went against expectations

to create a modernized version of the play. The new version, in my

opinion, is a much better than the original version of the story. Not

only does it depict the original tale, it adds visual stimuli to help

draw the viewer in. Even Though William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet

has many differences from original script, it supports the original

characters, themes, dialogue, and all the key issues of the classic

tale of the 'star-crossed lovers' , yet it revamps the original script

with special effects and a new modern setting. This brilliant

combination of Shakespeare's classic tail and wonderful language and

Baz Luhrmanns new modern setting and special effects created one of

the most amazing and different films of all time.