There are a lot of different genres used. The music used relates to the action genre. A documentary is used in the news report. There is also some comedy used. This is shown with the style of acting, the costumes and the voices used. This suggests that the target audience is quite young. There is some light hearted humour in the first scene, but they repetition of the word ‘sir’. They are joking about something that is so serious. There is also a touch of spaghetti western. This is shown through the music and the style of the acting by Tybalt. Different genres are brought by the Capulet’s and the Montague’s. The Montague’s are very comical and they bring the comedy genre into the film. The Capulet’s bring the spaghetti western genre into the film.
The first scene is set in Verona and it is a very busy place. Even though it is very busy, it seems to revolve around the Montague’s and the Capulets. When the news documentary is shown, there are two towers (one Capulet tower and one Montague tower) and both towers are around the same height. This could be a way of showing that the status and the power of both families are equal. Between the two buildings there is a statue of Jesus which is smaller than the two buildings. This could be one way of showing how big the family feud is. This shows that the family feud is larger than religion. Religion was very highly regarded in the fifteenth century, so this would have been very moving. One of the first shots was a crash zoom to the Jesus statue in Verona and then there was an arc shot around the statue.
The opening scene is very fast moving and this reflects that something is unstoppable. In the Princes speech, the Prince also says things to suggest that their brawl is unstoppable.
By looking at the sonnet, the tone indicates that Shakespeare’s target audience is older, but the actual words indicate a younger target audience.
Baz Luhrmann has very cleverly interpreted the text. The actors still talk of swords, but guns are actually used in the film instead of swords. Swords do not seem very appropriate with the setting of the film.
Different types of music add to the effect of the mood. Opera music adds to the tragedy. When things are more relaxed, then laid back or soothing music will be played. Soothing music will also be played at sad times. For example: when Mercutio died. Opera music returns when the fire begins and this adds to the tragedy. Many operas end in tragedy so this could be why opera music is used. ‘Romeo and Juliet’ ends in a tragedy with both Romeo and Juliet dying. When Romeo is writing in his diary about his love for Rosaline, the music is very depressing and slow.
The part of the scene at the petrol station is filled with a lot of tension. A lot of extreme close ups are used on Tybalt’s face and this adds to the effect of the tension building up. There are a lot of zooms and close ups used and the shots have a very fast pace. This is one way of showing all of the chaos and panic. A wide shot is used when Romeo is alone in a massive barren location. The same shot is used at Mercutio’s death.
When a new character arrives, the name of the character comes up on the screen, just like in some American soap operas. This shows the Dallas/Dynasty genre. These American soap operas were about money and family relationships. This is a similarity with ‘Romeo and Juliet’.
I think that it was very effective how Luhrmann used text in the opening scene with the voiceover over it, because it really draws in the audience. Some text is large and some text is small. The most relevant bits are larger.
In the opening scene it shows Romeo in love with Rosaline, to show that he thought he was in love with her. But then he realises the differences in love when he finds Juliet. This causes problems because Juliet is a Capulet.
I think that Baz Luhrmann re-created ‘Romeo and Juliet’ very successfully. He kept the language the same, but the genres used, the music and the acting helped make the film more modern.
I do not think Baz Luhrmann needs to improve on the way he established the film as a tragedy because he done it so successfully. He chose all of the right types of music at the right times and the wide range of genres helped make the film more successful. The wide range of genres provided a larger target audience, but the film was mainly aimed at the younger generation.
