An examination of the way two 20th Centuary Film Directors have interpreted Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet Essay Example For Students

An examination of the way two 20th Centuary Film Directors have interpreted Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet Essay Many Film Directors have produced versions of Shakespeare Plays. Some have succeeded some not. This is a study of how Franco Zefferelli and Baz Luhrmann have interpreted and dealt with the problems of presenting William Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet to a modern audience. The language that Shakespeare wrote in is known as archaic old. This was a huge barrier for the Directors and it is interesting how they dealt with it. Zefferelli sets his version in the 14th Centuary. With the costume and setting in this style you expect the actors to speak in 14th century English and it makes the play/film easier to understand. Luhrmann uses a lot of imagery to compliment the words. An example of this is during the Ball Scene there is a famous speech between Romeo and Juliet where Romeo pictures Juliet as a saint and himself as a pilgrim wishing to worship at her shrine. Lurhmann has set this scene as fancy dress and Juliet is depicted as an Angel whereas Romeo is a knight as in the crusades or a Knights Templar. Many people nowadays think that Shakespeare is unimportant to modern life. They think that his work is out of date and boring. This is a huge problem to a director. BL overcame this by using very popular actors and actresses, set in a futuristic present day, with black actors in the cast and very radical imagery of gang warfare, a drug culture and relation to the inner city problems of today. It is possible that Luhrmann was alluding to the huge success of West Side Story, made in 1959, and the only musical version to date. This was street violence of rival gang with the hatred based on race. Zefferelli gets over this by using younger actors and being (for the era) very radical. There is the inclusion of a sex scene with a subtle but obvious inclusion of nudity, the wedding night, which for the time was shocking and got the film a non-child classification from the Censors. Again earlier in the film Juliet leans very provocatively over the balcony, wearing a low cut corset that would not have been in any original stage direction in the 16th Century. Act 1 Scene 1 In this scene, servants of both Houses meet in the market place. They start a fight that turns into a civil brawl that grows to involve the whole town. The Prince arrives, declares that if there is another fight the participants will be executed. If you ever disturb our streets again, your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace The Directors have a lot of freedom for this scene as Shakespeare uses only one stage direction they fight Even though they have a lot of freedom in the way of stage directions the words that Shakespeare uses hold a lot of meaning. There are many important quotes used. Benvolio shows his peaceful character immediately. His first lines are part fools, you know not what you do! and I do but keep the peace, whereas Tybalt declares his ferocity Turn thee Benvolio and look upon your death and his infamous speech What, drawn and talk of peace? I hate the word as I hate hell, all Montagues and thee. Have at thee coward! Shakespeare is trying to get across the idea of the childlike brawls, the honour of the Houses and the ability of an airy word to escalate into a civil brawl. Zefferelli This version is set in the 14th Centuary Market Place, with the hustle and bustle and noise of the time. This noise escalates during the fight and is heightened by the un-orderly clanging of the bells that will alert the watch. Zefferelli takes a very Normal and clichà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½d view on the camera work and editing. As the action hots up the camera speeds up, as the action calms down the cameras slow down etc. In addition when Tybalt enters all you see is his feet then the camera slowly rises up his body, then zooms out, a common clichà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ of the bad guy thus giving him a feeling of menace and apprehension showing us that we have something to worry about. After their fight has been broken up and on the entrance of the Prince, the screams, shouts, bells and chaos that has been the soundtrack for the scene drop to silence as the Prince bellows out his gloomy threats. Zefferelli uses the echo of the buildings in the square to make this more threatening. When the Prince enters we see the crowd from his point of view the camera is viewing along the horses back. This makes the characters seem small and insignificant as it he is relating to the fight. Luhrmann Luhrmann sets his version in modern day America. He has adapted the ways of Shakespeares families and brought them into the 21st century. He again may well be referring back to West Side Story in that the Capulets are Puerto Ricans, but they are not poor having made millions from oil (we know this because the fuel station has Capulet written all over it). Luhrmann also describes them by the way they are: They drive a very gothic Cadillac and they have strong Catholic/Hispanic roots. The clothes they wear, tight trousers, dark shirts, waistcoats and/or jackets show this. They also wear rosaries and have pictures of the Mother of Christ on the side panels of their guns. Tybalt also has a tattoo of a pierced heart on this chest. This is a very dramatic and religious symbol. The way they speak is also very unique and very evasive. Tybalt often talks in riddles or plays on words together with john Leguizamos (the actor) very husky voice, Tybalt is sly, cocky and over confident, as if he thinks he is better than the Montagues. The easy-going but troubled Montagues have been depicted as typical Americans loud, slightly overweight and fun loving. There mannerisms are simple though, this helps to describe them as innocent. Luhrmann has perceived them as the better family. Mistaken Identity in Twelfth Night EssayThroughout both films the music has repeating themes, which reoccur for good and bad times. This technique appears here picking up on bad music from earlier in the film. Luhrmann uses Mercutio to show the effect of the drugs. He interprets his speech when he is trying to cheer Romeo up and alludes to Queen Mab as if the Queen of the Fairies is in fact the drug he has in his hand. This is because the legend is that Queen Mab enters peoples minds and gives them dreams, as do hallucinogenic drugs. Taking into consideration that Luhrmann made his film right at the height of the rave scene where Ecstasy was the height of fashion this twist brings the action right up to date and may well shock and surprise viewers who are not of that crowd. Both films use a single singer to bring more atmosphere to the end of this scene. In keeping with the period Zefferelli uses a Castrati, but to be thoroughly 20th Centuary Luhrmann has a black soul singer in this place. Act 5 Scene 3 This is the final and famous scene where they both die. Friar Laurences plan to fake Juliets death and send word to the exiled Romeo so that they can escape to a new life together is thwarted by Friar Johns delay at the Boarder. Romeo instead receives word from Balthazar (who has no knowledge of the plan), to say that Juliet is dead. Romeo, in his grief, hurries to Verona with the plan to die with her. He commits suicide by Juliets body, she then recovers consciousness, sees Romeo dead beside her and therefore takes her own life. In this scene Shakespeare changes the story from a love story to a tragedy. The hatred, long established, between the elders of these two young lovers, has forced them to conceal their love, and undertake a risky plan to have a life together. The plan backfires causing loss, sadness and grief to both families. In this Shakespear is showing how minor arguments can turn to great hatred, and the waste of life. He also enforces the idea that it may take a massive tragedy to bring warring parties to their senses and bring peace too late for the victims. Franco Zefferelli uses every technique current at the time to make the death scene as sad a possible. The horror and shock shown by the people who find the bodies, the music and the slow, lingering camera work, together with misting of some of the shots all work together to emphasize the pathos and grief. He uses techniques that might seem outdated in the current age but were drawn from the golden age of cinema in the 1950s and 60s when a good cry was seen to be a requirement of a good film. The scene is, however, very sterilized. Although Romeo has taken poison, and Juliet has stabbed herself there is nothing ugly and very little blood. The film leaves an impression only of sadness, and not the horror that such a scene would give in reality. Lurhmann however goes out of his way to shock in this scene, which is not his usual style. Romeo arrives as part of a police chase, and takes a hostage as part of his desperation to get to the chapel. The Prince is chasing Romeo in a helicopter, with aggressive music and much background noise. When he gets to the Chapel and shuts the door the sound is muffled. Lurhmann uses light to great effect. The chapel is full of thousands of candles, with white material to emphasis light and innocence. This is referring to Shakespears own words in that he gives Romeo the lines she does make torches to burn bright when he is first describing Juliet. In increase the sadness Lurhmann makes fine adjustments to Shakespears stage direction. The author intended that Romeo was already dead when Juliet regains consciousness. In this version he has just swallowed the poison as he realizes that Juliet is still alive, and for a split second they are both aware of what has happened. The Director shows his talent in that there is no deviation from the original text, just the use of body language, close ups and facial expressions, and makes the whole scene far sadder than versions that stick to the original stage direction. The audience is left wishing that Romeo had arrived just a few minutes, even seconds later, and the tragedy would have had a happy ending. At the start of the scene, it is like an action movie. The camera work is fast and furious, with all the clichà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s of a police chase. This action adds to the feeling of desperation and need for speed that Romeo is suffering. This camera work stops and goes to the same camera long shot as he slams the door of the chapel. The contrast from many cameras, view angles and intensity to the single view, where it is the actor not the camera that moves, is used the show the feeling of relief and achievement that Romeo has in that he has made it to the chapel. The contrast is so strong that it is almost like a computer game, where he has achieved one level and has a distinct break before the next and hardest level. Conclusion. I believe that Shakespeare, if he was alive now would have liked parts of both. The Zefferelli version is much less of a culture shock but Lurhmanns is such a twist on the classic story that he would have appreciated it in a sort of why didnt I think of that! way. In its time Zefferellis version was a masterpiece, and still is, for the classical Shakespear scholar. However with the capabilities of modern television, and the understanding of modern life that the audience has, it appears dated. My personal preference is that of Lurhmanns. You as an adult may think that this is typical of a teenager, but I believe that it is because his version brings the emotions alive whereas Zefferellis version did that in its day but does not with a modern audience.