Romeo And Juliet And Zeferelli's
Romeo and Juliet
“A tale of the young for the young”
By Laura Marinos
Throughout the 20th Century, there have been several attempts to transform William Shakespeare’s famous works into a modern context, with The Lion King based on Hamlet and 10 Things I Hate About You as a loose transformation of The Taming of the Shrew. Of course, there have been two successful transformations already based on Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy, Romeo and Juliet; West Side Story and Zeferelli’s Romeo and Juliet. West Side Story is an entertaining musical set in New York City with two lovers, from opposing gangs, while Zeferelli made the play into a movie, keeping Shakespeare’s verse and traditional clothing.
This week, a modern take on the love-tragedy …show more content…
Two teenagers infatuated by each other at a costume party, forced to breach their parents and the law, and ultimately send themselves to their deaths. Baz Luhrmann's film of the star-crossed lovers is set in a modern, vivid world full of guns, drugs and hate. It is set in the gangs and “gun culture” of Verona Beach, where the Capulet’s and the Montague’s are two rival corporate empires with generations of hatred and gang wars that continually erupt. Fast cars with booming engines replace horses, guns replace swords and drugs replace the famous Queen Mab. Luhrmann’s modern take has successfully captured the minds of youths, his target audience today. Youths all over the country have responded well to the dramatic film with comments such as, “Shakespeare has never seemed so interesting and entertaining before, it was captivating we could actually understand what the characters were saying, even though they were speaking in Shakespearean …show more content…
“Shakespeare has never seemed so interesting and entertaining before”
The camera is constantly on edge, rapidly moving and cutting between scenes with special effects, flamboyant colour and a fast, booming soundtrack. The frenzied camera successfully moves the audience through the film as the lovers head to their doom. This mixture of musical and visual styles clearly shows difference between gang violence, and the sensitive relationships throughout the film.
Each of Luhrmann’s characters have been transformed into modern figures, whose personalities are cleverly portrayed through their new costumes, appearance and attitudes. Romeo represents a rebellious youth, being a “knight in shining armour”, while Juliet is seen as innocent and pure, wearing an angel costume to the ball. All other characters can be recognised similarly, with Friar Lawrence having tattoos and shirtless, showing that he is no regular priest, Tybalt always wearing black leather to show his evil passion and Mercutio always wearing black and white, having two very different
“A tale of the young for the young”
By Laura Marinos
Throughout the 20th Century, there have been several attempts to transform William Shakespeare’s famous works into a modern context, with The Lion King based on Hamlet and 10 Things I Hate About You as a loose transformation of The Taming of the Shrew. Of course, there have been two successful transformations already based on Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy, Romeo and Juliet; West Side Story and Zeferelli’s Romeo and Juliet. West Side Story is an entertaining musical set in New York City with two lovers, from opposing gangs, while Zeferelli made the play into a movie, keeping Shakespeare’s verse and traditional clothing.
This week, a modern take on the love-tragedy …show more content…
Two teenagers infatuated by each other at a costume party, forced to breach their parents and the law, and ultimately send themselves to their deaths. Baz Luhrmann's film of the star-crossed lovers is set in a modern, vivid world full of guns, drugs and hate. It is set in the gangs and “gun culture” of Verona Beach, where the Capulet’s and the Montague’s are two rival corporate empires with generations of hatred and gang wars that continually erupt. Fast cars with booming engines replace horses, guns replace swords and drugs replace the famous Queen Mab. Luhrmann’s modern take has successfully captured the minds of youths, his target audience today. Youths all over the country have responded well to the dramatic film with comments such as, “Shakespeare has never seemed so interesting and entertaining before, it was captivating we could actually understand what the characters were saying, even though they were speaking in Shakespearean …show more content…
“Shakespeare has never seemed so interesting and entertaining before”
The camera is constantly on edge, rapidly moving and cutting between scenes with special effects, flamboyant colour and a fast, booming soundtrack. The frenzied camera successfully moves the audience through the film as the lovers head to their doom. This mixture of musical and visual styles clearly shows difference between gang violence, and the sensitive relationships throughout the film.
Each of Luhrmann’s characters have been transformed into modern figures, whose personalities are cleverly portrayed through their new costumes, appearance and attitudes. Romeo represents a rebellious youth, being a “knight in shining armour”, while Juliet is seen as innocent and pure, wearing an angel costume to the ball. All other characters can be recognised similarly, with Friar Lawrence having tattoos and shirtless, showing that he is no regular priest, Tybalt always wearing black leather to show his evil passion and Mercutio always wearing black and white, having two very different