SETTING
I believe that the party scene was perhaps one of the important scenes of the film, as it defined Luhrmann’s ability to interpret characters and themes of the Shakespearean era in 20th century images. The party scene is well interpreted; the bright lighting and colours add both a sense of confusion and the excessive ego of the Capulets. The flamboyant dressing of Mercutio as s drag queen lends some comic relief to this scene, as the scene, is of course, overcast by foreboding.
In the beginning, when we first saw Juliet, there was a loud music in the background, and this adds to the sense of confusion. Music also separates out Juliet, as one who is separated out from the family and drawn towards Romeo. When she sees Romeo, there is a soft music playing in the background, an indicator that the two are ‘destined lovers’. The loudness of Mercutio also separates out Romeo and Juliet, as a way of saying ‘ in the presence of the family, there is little hope of romance, and they must keep their love quiet and secret’. There is also ominous, slow music when the maid takes Juliet away. This is the point at which Romeo works out that he is a Capulet and Romeo a Montague, showing the futility of their Romantic dream, and though most of the audience know the basic storyline to Romeo and Juliet, Luhrmann is still able to provoke interest. This corresponds to the music heard when Romeo takes the drug and collapses, seeing a ghostly figure of himself in the church he will die in.
Romeo and Juliet first catch sight of one another in the Mansion’s washroom, from other sides of a separating fish tank. This is ironic, as though they can see each other through the tank, they cannot contact each other. I believe that the tank represents a barrier between the characters, and that though they can see each other, there is still the family feuding separating them. To add to the sense of romance, there is a quiet romantic solo in the background, dull lighting and close-ups of the camera. These close ups give a sense of solitude, excluding the outside world for the audiences concentration on the link between the two characters. The camera also shows the two perspectives, and though Romeo tries to kiss Juliet, the glass pane stops him. A recurrent theme of this piece is water imagery, representing the purity and innocence of young love. The fact that Romeo is first seen submerged in water, as Juliet was when she was first introduced, establishes a relationship between the two characters.
One of the best examples is the first time they see each other through the fish tank. They mirror one anothers movement a sign that they are meant to be together. There is also an angel fish, a pun on their love as ‘deep’ or ‘tropical and rare’ and ‘angelic’. The refracting ligts give the aquarium a sense of heaven, and the blue lights against their faces shows innocence. The water can also be seen as ‘purifying’, a barrier that they cannot caross and yet they see each other as plainly as if it were not their. The water imagery that Luhrmann uses in the lovers' scenes obviously emphasizes the idealism of their relationship existing within a chaotic, corrupt, and frightening context. Romeo and Juliet believe that they are hermetically sealed off from the rest of the world in a highly personal, personalized sealed-off world. When Romeo colapses in his drugged up state, he is from the loud music in the hall fahter bellowing, then awyya to the bathroo. There, he wakes up uneder the water of the basin, a direct comparison to Juliet. He wakes up to soft music when he sees juliet, making the audience see the romance of this clip.
Tybalt is slain and plunges into a fountain at the base of the statue of Christ. The water is too shallow to cleanse him, and therefore he id an evil character. Water is seen as neutral ground, were they look closer than they are, and far more innocent than direct touch. During this section, the camera takes many angles. This shows different perspectives, and is more likely to involve the audience. Another scene that Luhrmann shows the theme of ‘Boundaries’ between Romeo and Juliet is during the lift scene. They are confined in an almost heavenly area, so close to being caught by her parents. The lift is brightly lit, as a comparison to Heaven, but also it separates the two out from their surroundings. They are blocked of in their own world, believing that they are alone and uninfluenced by their family and surroundings. The camera also circles the lovers in the confined lift, showing a complete perspective, involving the audience. Luhrmann also uses this technique in the ‘Moulin Rouge,’ to involve the audience and separate out characters. Also, to separate out the characters he uses a staircase. In English literature, stairs were used as a ‘no-mans’ land, separating out the characters, though they cannot see it. They always maintain eye contact, and this shows overdramatic, intense young love, where they can be in their ‘own world’.
Cinematography: Luhrmann uses all sorts of techniques to separate out characters and enhance the themes of the play. Focussing on the party scene, colours are used for intensity, close-ups, Juliet. The sudden appearance of Mercutio, against the bright spinning lights give a sense of confusion in his drugged mind. He sobers up in the men’s toilets, and here is where he meets Juliet. The camera was under the water and this is much like the first time we saw Juliet. This is a way that Luhrmann can link the two characters from the rest. He also gives us a hint of danger using the camera. When he grabs Juliet’s hand, there is a quick shot of them before Paris sees them together, laughing ecstatically at the display of gold balloons. The swapping of camera angles gives an ominous sense, and also can be seen as a way in which the audience foresees the impending tragedy. The fear of being caught adds interest/tension to the play, and is more compelling to watch.
The circling camera in the lift gives a sense of intensity of their love. She is suddenly broken away from him, and yet there are always shots. When Juliet looks distraught at the fact that Romeo is a Montague, there is a close up of both their faces. This adds to the emotional insight that is given to the audience, much like the first time we saw Juliet, a way that Luhrmann can link the two characters from the rest. Mercutio in this scene was very unlike the way he was in the last, angry at the concept of his ‘love’ and violent when Romeo was being bathetic. He is in the centre of the stage, singing the appropriate ‘young hearts’. He is the ‘comical’ character in this scene, a release from the intensity of the most of the scene. When Mercutio takes Romeo away, there are shots between the two. This separates them out, and is a way in which Luhrmann can show their love affectively. In the same way, when Juliet is dancing with Paris, there are shots throughout of Romeo.
There are many themes to Romeo and Juliet, but one most apparent is the futility of young love between Romeo and Juliet. Luhrmann interprets Shakespeare’s script superbly, and though most of the audience knows the basic plot of Romeo and Juliet he is able to make the audience feel frustration and surprise. Another resounding theme is foreshadowing:
I fear, too early: for my mind misgives
Some consequence yet hanging in the stars
Shall bitterly begin his fearful date
With this night's revels and expire the term
Of a despised life closed in my breast
By some vile forfeit of untimely death.
When Romeo awakens from the drug during the party scene he sees a ghostly apparition of himself in the church he is to die in. This is a technique used by Luhrmann to give the audience a sense of foreboding and tension; whish draws you in to the play. This leads me on to the Shakespeare’s theme of death, which was inevitable due to the family hatred that Shakespeare uses as a moral of the play.
He takes her by the hand into the lift, FAST CAMERA where Luhrmann circles the couple to display the intensity of their emotions and to separate them out from the rest for emphasis on the characters relations. The lift door opens out to Juliet’s mother, and the door is quickly closed, denying the inevitable relationship between her and her mother. The Nurse, who now knows of the relationship, drags her out to her mother. She is taken up stairs (to show distance) where she finds out he is a Montague and he finds out she is a Capulet. The Ominous music is low. Distanced camera. Dark outside: no eye contact broken: still love though unable to believe it….
