Long Essay On Romeo And Juliet

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Romeo and Juliet is a famous love story written by Shakespeare, it has been played in theatres across the world and its famous romantic story is popular throughout the world of stage. Shakespeare wrote the story based on a poem he read about love. The story is about two young people living in Italy who fall in love but their families hate each other causing many problems. It is one of my favourite stories because I have seen it performed in London; it was fantastic.
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In this coursework, my task is to describe, analyse and compare the way two directors Franco Zeffirelli and Baz Luhmann (who both made the film of “Romeo and Juliet”) have chosen to film act one. I must discuss the differences between the two films and write about; what type of audience the films were aimed at, how each film do time and place affect. Last of all I must express my opinion on the films and write about which one I prefer, the different styles costumes camera angles, cast and appearance on the whole.

Act One Scene One begins with the prologue: a narrator explaining the story in brief. The setting starts in a market place in the city of Verona. The servants of Capulet and Montague begin a fight that turns into a major brawl between to the two families. The Prince of Verona stops the fight. Romeo was not in the fight but he was acting strangely, Benvolio finds out that he is in love with Rosaline.

Scene two is set at Capulets house, Paris asks Capulet if he could marry his daughter Juliet. Capulet believes she is too young but offers to ask. Next Capulet sends his servant to invite guests to his party. Romeo and Benvolio help the servant read the list and see Rosaline’s name so they decide to go.
Scene three continues in Capulet’s house where Lady Capulet puts the proposal of marriage to Juliet. “Well think of marriage now” this is a quote taken from Capulets wife as she puts the proposal of marriage forward, Lady Capulet likes to take charge of her daughter and immediately puts difficult suggestions in front of her, the language used is more informative than persuasive. Moving on to scene four Romeo and Mercutio get ready to go the party. “But he hath the steerage of my course Direct my sail! On lusty gentlemen”. This quote is taken from Romeo in Act 1 Scene 5 were Mercutio and Romeo are ready to go to the party, this quote means if someone can decide his own life then let them and at the end he says “On lusty gentlemen!” this is a great expression for them to proceed to the party. He speaks with power, this is shown by the exclamation marks used.
Finally scene five comes back to Capulet’s house where Romeo sees Juliet. “Have not saint’s lips, and holy palmers, too?” a quote taken from Romeo when he meets Juliet, she replys “Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer”. Looking at these two quotes shows how much Juliet is surprised at the words and actions used by Romeo, she is happy and shows that she is far superia to him by the way she expresses “pilgrim”. Romeo is persuasive, as he wants to have a kiss, it is obvious at he beginning of this meeting that Romeo is in love with her at first but Juliet shows no compassion until he kisses her. He immediately falls in love and when given the chance to talk to her in private they kiss. Tybalt (Juliet’s cousin) sees Romeo and offers to throw him out but Capulet stops him. Later Romeo and Juliet find out that their families are enemies.
Franco Zeffirelli (an Italian movie director) made his own version of the play “Romeo and Juliet” into a film, it was made in 1968 but its story and cinematography still make it a great film to watch today. The film was shot entirely in Italy; this is where the story is set and where Zeffirelli came from. Back in 1968 Zeffirelli’s film was considered ” modern, young persons interpretation of the story”. This is a quote from the film critics at the time; they said this because the action and the whole approach to the story are energetic and put into a modern context during those days. He used two unknown actors to play the parts of Romeo and Juliet and won two academy awards: best cinematography, best costume design.
Baz Luhrmann’s version of “Romeo and Juliet” is modern and set on Verona beach in the U.S.A. The Australian director uses an urban setting with today’s technology and cities. The film, which was made in 1997, was considered a retelling of the story because they used the original Shakespearean language and script. Lurhmann used several well-known casts, which includes Leonardo Di Caprio who plays Romeo; they picked him so they can gain interest from the audience. This lasts just over an hour.
Franco Zeffirelli and Baz Lurhmann made two completely different versions of Romeo and Juliet the movie. Zeffirelli stuck to Shakespeare’s original story and stage directions but Lurhmann altered the stage directions all together, one thing they both kept that was in the original story was the language used. In both films the characters speak in Shakespeare’s language and it really sets the play alive because it uses original context making it look like Shakespeare’s play was set in modern times, it keeps the original story there. “Thy” and “Thaw” are popular words used in the plays.
The opening of Romeo and Juliet is different in the two movies; Zeffirelli opens his film with plenty of light when the fight commences the town bell rings which is used instead of music. The dull, dark colours show that it is a tragedy as well. Lurhmann opens his up as an action comedy, tense music but bright colours. In Zeffirelli’s version it starts with a long shot of a small town and the narrator speaking, who is male and has a deep voice, I believe this creates a satisfactory mood in the beginning so the film can set the scene and gain interest at the begin. After the narrator has finished telling the prologue the camera immediately moves to Capulet’s servants walking around the market causing trouble. The colours are dull but blend in together beautifully.
In Lurhmann’s version he opens up with tense music to set the story as a tragedy and an action film. “Two households, both alike in dignity” this is only one sentence taken from the beginning but it sets the scene well, this passage is one of my favourites because it opens up a story so well, it makes the reader want to read more. A narrator with a deep voice narrates the prologue and action happens almost immediately at the beginning. This shows me Lurhmann has set his film up as a tragedy. The tense music is loud and booms while the narrator’s deep voice tells the prologue. A fight brakes out between the servants of the Montague and the servants of Capulet. Lurhmann uses a big vast city to show the argument between the two families is affecting the whole place. Lurhmann uses lots of close ups on the characters to show the expressions on the faces which becomes a key feature in the film. There is a long shot to show the overall view of what is happening.
The cast in Zeffirelli’s version was a great success back in 1968 when the film was made, he used two unknown actors to play the parts of Romeo and Juliet, Olivier Hessey (Juliet) Leonard (Romeo). In Lurhmann’s version he uses a popular cast, Leonardo Di Caprio (Romeo) and more popular actors to attract the audience.
Lurhmann uses some special camera shots in his film, he uses a pan shot that is sped up to create a feel of tension and the close ups of the faces are detailed looks at the characters. Using these special camera effects gains the audience’s interest; it is something new and adventures. He really put in the detail. The opening scene, which is set in a petrol station has so many camera angles, a low camera angle was sued often in this scene. He uses low angle camera shots because it looks up to the characters and gives the picture a bigger look, it is like looking up at a big building. Zeffirelli uses basic camera shots; he does not give a great deal of concentration on special shots because he uses the story as if it was there in that time so he takes the movie seriously. Zeffirelli uses several close ups long medium shots, there were only a few long shots.
The sound tracks in both films are different, Zeffirelli uses medieval type music, and this sets the time period the story would be set in. Zefferilli’s version was true to the original script and so is the music, I believe Shakespeare would have used the same style of music. Lurhmann uses rock and pop style music to create a modern effect and attract the audience, which at the time would be into the music. As a modern film the music creates a whole new story, it reflects on the character personalities and gives the audience a taste of modern music.
The sound effects used by Zeffirelli are basic and genuine, he does not use special sound effects this is because he is trying to make the movie exactly to the script and not as modern as Lurhmann’s, he uses sound effects to replace the music in some scenes. At the beginning when the servants are fighting there is no music but a church bell rings, this symbolises a tragedy as a bell ringing symbolises sad and dark times. In the modern version the sound effects are modern like the gun sounds and the background noise of cars and the police so there are far more modern sound effects than the Zeffirelli version. This will attract modern audiences and create a better scene.
Colours are a main feature in Lurhmann’s film; he uses it for all sorts of reasons. Some vivid colours mixed with dull colours creates a dramatic feeling, he uses colour in detail on the costumes, one good example is Benvolio; he wears a bright colourful shirt to show he is peaceful and a good guy. Tybalt wears dark colours to show a dark and angry character. Zeffirelli uses dull dark colours but the all blend in beautifully, he uses these colours to show the film is a tragedy. He uses bright colours for the Capulets; yellows and reds and he uses dark colours for the Montagues, this is to separate the families. The colours play a major part in both films they bring emotion and character to the play.
Costumes are similar in both films, originally the Montagues wear bright and the Capulets were dark but in both films they are swapped over. The special effects in Zeffirelli’s version there are little special effects because back in 1968 they did not have the same technology as they do now. In Lurhmann’s version there are plenty of special effects, visual graphics and sounds. Speeding up of frames builds up the tension and the changing of picture. Special effects are used more in the modern version so the film can gain interest from the audience with new and modernised technology like computer graphics.
After watching both films they are different in many ways, Zeffirelli sticks true to the story to make the genuine film of Romeo and Juliet. Lurhmann spices the story up and creates a whole new action for the beginning; he uses the same language as Shakespeare but different stage directions. The settings are different because one film is modern and the other is true to the story. Lurhmann sets his film at Verona beach in the U.S.A and Zeffirelli sets his in Italy where the story is set.
Zeffirelli’s version presents itself as a tragedy from the beginning but Lurhmann’s opens up as a fast pace action. The time of both films are so wide apart that Lurhmann’s version really stands out from Zeffirelli’s, the special effects and quality of filming do not match each other at all. Zeffirelli has a great quality in his film for telling the story and it makes it come alive, while Lurhmann keeps the same Shakespearean language but changes a lot of the actions and scenes.
My favourite version was Baz Lurhmann’s because his idea of spicing up the story has really worked and it looks like a modern day version of Shakespeare’s story. The film is funny, its fighting scenes and the character Mercutio (who is a drag queen in the film) bring a sense of humour to the film. I really enjoyed the modern version because it had everything, it was funny, tense, it had plenty of action and drama.

Eric Reed

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