Comparing Zeffirelli and Luhrmanns Versions of Romeo and...

For never was a story of more woe Than this of Juliet and her Romeo. - William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, 5.3 ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is a tragic play about two star crossed lovers written by Shakespeare in 1595. The play is a timeless teenage tradgedy. â€Å"The play champions the 16th Century belief that true love always strikes at first sight,† (Lamb 1993: Introduction) and even in modern times an audience still want to believe in such a thing as love at first sight. Act II Scene II the balcony scene displays that romantic notion perfectly. â€Å"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†¦show more content†¦Luhrman has based his version at Verona Beach; America and instead of basing it in the 16th century like Zeffirelli, he had his film based in the 20th century, with mansions, shiny cars and bright lights. While Zeffirelli paced his film in an Iambic pentameter – a traditional Shakespeare pace; Luhrman never kept his film at a solid pace. â€Å"By modernizing these aspects of the play, and reconstructing the prologue, Luhrmann creates a movie that is more interesting to the modern viewers.† (Franco Zeffirelli and Baz Luhrmanns Romeo and Juliet. 123HelpMe.com). As Zeffirelli may have believed famous actors would steal his show he instead hired fresh new faces to give the movie a more fresh, innocence value, But Luhrman u sed well known actors to play the lead roles. This worked because more people were attracted to the film by the actors. Zeffirelli used symbols to help capture his audience. Some were subtle, others were meant to get the audiences attention. For example Romeo climbing over the high wall to reach Juliet’s balcony was a subtle symbol showing the heights and challenges he would face for true love, and even the fact the scene was set on a balcony overlooking an orchid which was may have been meant to symbolise the ‘natural love’ or ‘green’ being fresh and inexperienced. Some more prominent symbols were used, such as Juliet’s particular costume in this scene, a symbolShow MoreRelatedComparing the Starts of Two Film Versions of Romeo and Juliet1744 Words   |  7 PagesComparing the Starts of Two Film Versions of Romeo and Juliet Romeo and Juliet is a timeless, classical love story written by the unmatched author, William Shakespeare. Many of Shakespeare’s works are considered literary classics, but none are more loved, well known than Romeo and Juliet. This play masterfully tells the love story of two teenagers in Verona, Italy. The title characters, Romeo and Juliet, are members of two feuding families. Romeo is a MontagueRead MoreComparing The Opening Shots in Baz Luhrmann and Franco Zeffirellis Versions of Romeo and Juliet1551 Words   |  7 PagesComparing The Opening Shots in Baz Luhrmann and Franco Zeffirellis Versions of Romeo and Juliet This essay will compare two versions of Romeo and Juliet directed by Baz Luhrmann and Franco Zeffirelli. In order for me to comment on both versions of Romeo and Juliet I will compare the opening shots, the way the main characters are introduced and the types of music and costumes used in each version. Baz Luhrmanns film takes place in contemporary America. The latest Read MoreComparing the Openings of the Film Versions of Romeo and Juliet by Franco Zeffirelli and Baz Luhrmann775 Words   |  4 PagesComparing the Openings of the Film Versions of Romeo and Juliet by Franco Zeffirelli and Baz Luhrmann Both openings of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ by Franco Zeffirelli and Baz Luhrmann show similarities and contrasts. Although both versions are faithful to the text as the words spoken by the voiceover in the Prologue are the same, the methods of presentation are clearly different. Zeffirelli places the film in the 17th century and takes a more traditional approach. By using a whiteRead MoreEssay on Comparing Opening Sequences of Romeo and Juliet1626 Words   |  7 PagesComparing Opening Sequences of Romeo and Juliet In my essay I am going to compare the opening scenes the two versions of Romeo Juliet. One is by Franco Zeffirelli, which was made in the late 1970’s. The other one is by Baz Luhrmann and was made in 1996. The Zeffirelli version stars Leonardo Whiting as Romeo and Olivia Hussey as Juliet. This version was more authentic and traditional. It was filmed more in a way Shakespeare would have illusory it. It was set in ItalyRead MoreRomeo And Juliet Film Analysis1647 Words   |  7 PagesDavies, Anthony. The film versions of Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare Survey 49(1996):153-162 Web. 22 May 2017. 1. In this Journal articles by Anthony Davies, he attempts to trace, compare, and analyze the play of Romeo Juliet’s life throughout cinema. To do this, Anthony does a close reading of four different films directed by Cukor, Zeffirelli, Alvin Rakoff, and the BBC. With these films, Anthony delves into them while dissecting specific scenes to compare how they are different or similar