Romeo and Juliet

Another point you said was that the film was to explicate as it has sexual material shown. Romeo and Juliet is a romantic story so of course they are going to express their affection towards each other. In the original you would also see sexual scenes. In this version you don't see any unnecessary material or that much, as the camera angles are shot so you can't see inappropriate bits. Your daughter is coming to an age to see that sexual activity is not unusual.

Thirdly the setting has been changed to suit the theme of the film, as it is modern it needs a modern city setting so Baz Lurhmann chose Verona. The accents fit into the setting because in Verona they all have accents Italian so this is suitable. Shakespeare can be read in any accent, it doesn't have any particular way it should be read. Also the costume reflects each characters personality; this will help the pupils see what the characters are like and what roles they play in the film. For example in the party scene Tybalt is wearing devil horns, this shows he is evil and plays the bad guy in the film.

As you so rightly said, children these days have very short attention span this is why Baz Lurhmann uses music to catch their attention. The music sets the mood and helps them understand the language more easily. Say there is a tense and depressing scene the music would be more dramatic and make the students help see how the characters are feeling. Also the lightening helps emphasis the mood of the scene for example if it is bright and clear the mood would be joyful and give the sense things are going to be good.

My fifth point is that you say your daughter told you that there is homosexuality in this interpretation of the play. As there is no acctual explicit proof of his sexual preference I can't confirm if there is. But there are some reasons why Mercutio might be seen as homosexual. You also said that there are drugs used in the film. Romeo uses posion to kill himself at the end because he thinks Juliet is dead, this is one of the main parts of the play as traditional Romeo uses posion. If they removed this part of the play it would ruin the whole point of the story as its sposed to be a tragedy and romantic story. Baz Lurhmann uses an ecstasy tablet as a love pill, this shows he is looking for love that night and also shows what time period it is set in. Your daughter is aware that homosexality and drugs exist so I don't think that there is any damage seeing a small amount of such things in the film.

My final point is that the choice of shots and camera angles used in Romeo and Juliet are very important, as they can show the scene in more detail and help the students understand more of what might be happening in each scene. For example a close up on a characters facial expression can show how they are feeling in more detail. That is why it is extremely important for your daughter to learn about all the different types of shot techniques and camera angles.

In conclusion I think what we are teaching is not harmfull to your daughter and is a very educational film. I can assure you that we would never show anything we didn't feel is right to show.I also have been extremely pleased with your daughters work; she has made a lot of progress this term and has enjoyed this topic. If you have any other question to ask me I would be delighted if you wright back or ring the school and we can have a chat in feather detail.

Many thanks for your letter.

Your's sincerely,

Elsa Melrose

Head of English

Elsa Melrose 10g

English coursework