Baz Lurhmann's Interpretation of the opening scene of Romeo + Juliet

The film opens with a picture of a television screen switched off then, with no sound, clicks one with a few credits on the screen as if someone is changing the channel to find something that would interest them then clicks onto this channel with a newsreader reading out the prologue of “Romeo and Juliet”. While the newsreader is reading out this in the background in a box, where you would see visual information about the story of which the reader was talking about, is a picture of a broken wedding band (this is symbolising the broken love between Romeo and Juliet). Then: *[rapid zoom]* + *[whooshing noise]*, into the image of the news reader, followed by dramatic music then the images start ‘whooshing’ onto other ones pictures of Verona and with this the prologue is repeated by the priest. Then it shows pictures of the cast with information about them. This is the introduction to Baz Luhrmann’s film and with this he catches the viewers attention and makes them hungry for more.

In the first scene of this recreational play we start of with 3 blokes from the house of Montague are doing what they do in the original play but are doing it in the way of how a modern person this day would be doing what they do in the original play. In the original play the 2 blokes are just going along showing off etc. well he does pretty much exactly what happens in the original play but completely different. In the way that they’re going around in cars and hanging out at petrol stations and whipping out they’re guns to fight each other, instead of swords. Its all very clever if you’ve seen the original play. Even though that he has changed the visuals and made the film more modern he hasn’t changed the script he has still kept it in that same Shakespearean tong: “thus, thou hast, knowest, thow etc.

The characters in Luhrmann’s films are very exaggerated so by looking at the way the act and speak you can instantly tell what kind of person they are in the film: ‘The Bad Guy’, the funny guy, the romantic guy etc. For example the two Montague’s are all rough and tough when they are talking behind the Capulet’s back but when they are face to face with the Capulet’s they are very jumpy and scared and also very comical. But the Capulet boys are much more mean and bullish: Abra and Tybalt. Tybalt being the main big bad guy of the film is very harsh and he looks like a big slinger. He has a very stylised character – his movement his whole style gives him a sense of character