Romeo and Juliet also has a very modern visual style. It’s based in a modern city with skyscraper, helicopters, cars and other modern appliances. The dressing of the characters is also very modern. The Capulets are dressed in punk clothes, have stuck up and messy, died hair. The Montague’s clothes contrast to this of the Capulets. They dress like Italian Americans, with neat black hair, boots, jackets and they smoke cigars.
The director also chooses to have a lot of close ups and even extreme close ups of the characters involved. The twelfth night doesn’t contrast to Romeo and Juliet too much. It’s a mix of contempory and old styles. The dressing of the characters is an example of this mix of contempory and old. Orsino dresses in old-fashioned clothes. These appear to be from Elizabethan periods and are wealthy looking clothes, establishing what class Orsino is in. Whereas Viola dresses in modern clothes of a different culture. Both are also seen wearing suits.
Of the two films neither reveals too much of their plots at the outset, but the twelfth night shows more. It shows you how the girl is looking for her brother and how Orsino is a man whose love has lost both her brother and father in a car crash. In Romeo and Juliet you are only shown the feud between the two families, Capulet and Montague. Even in the opening sequence the two main characters, Romeo and Juliet aren’t even shown; all the audience learn is that they will eventually die.
The twelfth nights opening scene is all about its main characters and how they ended up where they are. It shows Viola as having lost her home in another country and travelling by boat, it has Orsino whose love has died; it even contains the history of his love and her family. In contrast to this in the Romeo and Juliet film the main two characters aren’t even shown, you learn nothing of them. The director has only chosen to show the minor characters in the opening sequence, this makes the viewer want to keep watching to find out more about the main two characters and their place in the film.
The director, when turning a film into a play has to come up with a performance style for the film. The Romeo and Juliet film uses modern era clothing for all its characters, and is in a modern background filled with skyscrapers, petrol stations and other tall buildings. The director also chose to use the original Shakespearian text, adapting parts with our modern language used today. The twelfth night was performed with a mix of old and contempory styles of clothing and backgrounds.
Although no modern appliances were shown this is not to say there are none in the film, just in the part we were shown, this includes the backgrounds. The only modern era things were suits, a motored fishing boat and a car is mentioned. The director also chose to stick very strictly to the Shakespearian script, matching it almost word for word.
Of the two films Romeo and Juliet was probably the easier of the two to follow. It used easier, adapted Shakespearian language and an easier opening plot. This shows it was probably aimed at a younger audience. The twelfth night was hard to follow, not only in the fact the director kept strictly to the script but because he shown the plot in a very hard way to follow. For example, when Orsino is shooting arrows at a target he keeps just missing representing how he always just misses out on love; this could be quite hard to spot especially for younger viewers.
Both films were based on plays by the same man, and both directors used different techniques turn the script into a film. However given their intended audiences I would say that both films were a success, if not for their intended audiences then for me.