Baz Lurhmann's, Romeo and Juliet.
English Coursework.Media-Baz Lurhmann's, Romeo and Juliet.
Scene Analysis: scene 1
Set in 'fair Verona', Shakespeare's most famous, magical, heart-rending and tragic love- affair, Romeo and Juliet, has been cleverly transformed using a modern-day, urban backdrop to portray Baz Lurhmann's eccentric and exciting adaptation of Shakespeare's infinite phenomenon that is, Romeo and Juliet.
Prior to the opening scene, there is an introduction that consists of a news reporter on a television set, reporting on the terrible fate of, 'a pair of star-crossed lovers', who 'take their lives'. The audience is captured by Shakespeare's spellbinding language and you can perceive from the deep, powerful words that the genre of the film is: love/ tragedy. The music used in the opening scene is of an Operatic style. I think Opera has been used to provoke emotion, feelings and to create tension. The powerful effect this music has on this amazing film, gives it drama, adds dimension and creates intrigue towards the plot among the audience.
Throughout the film the audience are confronted by a juxtaposition of modern, contemporary settings and poetic, dramatic, Shakespearian language. These two elements completely conflict each other, which gives a shock factor when you first view this film. This unique style Baz Lurhmann has used has the effect of sparking interest and it reverses the first time viewers' expectations.
Following the opening scene, the audience is introduced to the two rival gangs: the Capulets and the Montagues. The camera zooms in to a character and pauses in a freeze - frame. With bright white wording, this indicates the character's identity. eg,
Benvolio, a Capulet, Romeo's cousin. All characters partaking in this film are distinguished using the above technique. This has the effect of keeping the audience informed therefore breaking the distance between the action and the viewer.
There is a clash of culture between the two gangs relating to dress, mannerisms, speech, music and atmosphere. The Montague gang is portrayed in a flamboyant, relaxed and youthful manner. This is displayed by their colourful, casual, and holiday- type, choice of clothing. Their accessories, e.g. jewellery are throw-away, meaningless junk and have no substantial meaning to their purpose, (gang). Their cars are wild, bright and customised. Their choice of music is 'head- banger' rock. The impression created is, fun loving, care free adolescence.
By contrast, the Capulets are very sophisticated, stylish and sleek. They dress in black tight fitting, fashionable clothing, with a strong religious connotation. Their accessories are: crosses, gold, medallion rings and black robes, which illustrate serious religious imagery. Both gangs are privileged and affluent and they give the strong impression of being powerful and dangerous.
Baz Lurhmann has cleverly portrayed these two rival gangs to increase the understanding of young viewers, who can identify with the gang /rivalry culture. The fact that there are two very contrasting gangs increases the tension and sets off the viewer's ...
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By contrast, the Capulets are very sophisticated, stylish and sleek. They dress in black tight fitting, fashionable clothing, with a strong religious connotation. Their accessories are: crosses, gold, medallion rings and black robes, which illustrate serious religious imagery. Both gangs are privileged and affluent and they give the strong impression of being powerful and dangerous.
Baz Lurhmann has cleverly portrayed these two rival gangs to increase the understanding of young viewers, who can identify with the gang /rivalry culture. The fact that there are two very contrasting gangs increases the tension and sets off the viewer's anticipation of a dramatic time bomb.
The guns of both gangs are personalised to the gangs' identities. They represent extreme power; as indicated by the gangs revealing their guns from beneath their jackets at the beginning of the argument. This is also another way the gangs distinguish each other. This is a cinematic technique used to add tension. It also ties in with the language of Shakespeare, centring on the interchange of, "draw back thy sword". I think the way Baz Lurhmann has regarded the guns as 'swords', keeps the tradition and respect, to the language and originality of Shakespeare's astounding, poetical dialect.
After the two gangs have drawn back their swords, there is a search for status with mounting aggression; this is when the tension starts to evolve into an argument. Suddenly the argument diffuses, like the blowing out of a candle, when a sinister character enters.
Tybalt is an ominous and evil character, (Capulet, Prince of Cats.) In this segment of the scene, focusing on him, the camera techniques and angles are extremely clever and productive. To capture his essence, the camera moves with him throughout the scene, using quick, swift zoom in, down and round. Almost every, spin, jump, movement of Tybalt's, is accompanied by a sound effect. This clever technique evolves his character into a tense, dominating male with higher status than the other characters. His squinting facial expression and hateful words, makes it conspicuous to the viewers the temperament of his personality; threatening, emotionless and dangerous.
On his entrance, country western music is incorporated into the scene. Normally, in old western films, this expresses that at any moment a fight will break out. He walks in-the camera only focusing on his black, metal-heeled, python-engraved boots. The sound of a match is lit and he lets it drop. With his distinctive boots, he stubs the match out with two loud, angry, pivots. The combination of the music and the fact that, he is in a petrol station and lets the match fall, knowing he could start a fire, shows he is fearless and increases the tension to 100%. When he fights, he almost looks like he is a Latino dancer. Comparative to the Montagues' gun fighting skills: point randomly and shoot, this defines how confident and intrepid he is. Whilst being shot at he casually performs a few tricks with his gun, like, twirling it around his fingers and flipping it up into the air, etc. I noticed that he had two guns. The question springs to mind; does he have two guns because he is more vulnerable with one? I.e. is not an accurate gun fighter? Or does he have two guns because he is the leader, which also shows power? I think this is his 'shock factor' towards the Montagues. He is so confident on his arrival that he would fight just as well, but to have two guns when the opposition has only one, is a massive risk to them.
Although this scene consists of tense factors it also possesses a humorous comical side.
The Montagues are very timid in contrast and when the fight breaks out one of the boys shields himself behind the door of a cab. A woman in the back, horrified, is screaming, repeatedly at timed intervals, bashing him on the head with her purse. He tries to contain himself but retaliates and he quickly moves and points his gun at her. She sharply draws back into her seat! In this instance the camera moves with his action incredibly quickly, which makes this part extraordinarily funny, in a 'Slapstick', Punch and Judy style. The humour works well because the whole scene is manic which accentuates the madness and irrational behaviour of both sides. Most audiences, especially the younger, are attracted to comedy and I think that even though the language is sometimes tricky to grasp, it makes them more entertained and inclined to observe.
The scene ends with a massive explosion when Tybalt intentionally and unconcernedly drops the cigarette to the ground bringing to a climax, the mounting aggression and tension throughout the whole scene. The leading families are portrayed as powerful and influential through the havoc and destruction caused by the fire. These two families are not just a small scale rivalry. They are perceived as organisations locked in a Mafia style conflict. The fire burning the, 'Montagues vs Capulets' signs and posters indicates and symbolises that there is yet more destruction, violence and tragedy to be unleashed.
The helicopters, police sirens, fires and injured people all express components of a disaster movie and introduce another film genre. All this contributes to expressing the conflict between the parents and shows the strong damaging influence their feud has on their children, "The quarrel is between our masters", "And us their men"
The Prince as the Chief of Police is an original concept. In the play, he is a dignified, eloquent figure of royalty but here he is the, 'hard-hitting' and 'straight talking, cop'. As such, he is a familiar character of other well known cop shows, such as 'L.A Law'. The element of introducing him as a stereotype adds a touch of humour to the scene and it works very well.
Concluding this essay, I undoubtedly believe that the scene is successful in its interpretation of a very well known story. Baz Lurhmann has clarified the language and the plot for younger viewers using clever techniques, and has brought the film side of Romeo and Juliet alive. Then again, without Shakespeare's fantastic language and intensity, it would not have had the same impact and endurance. Therefore, these two factors compliment each other wholly. The unique way the film has been produced, expresses to me that, you can revolutionise peoples' expectations of a Shakespeare classic and still result with a masterpiece. I give so much credit to Baz Lurhmann because he has retained the language, which most directors wouldn't. In doing so, he has kept the dignity, tradition and respect to Shakespeare, yet still making the film into a well-known original. He has popularised the film in a flamboyant way using his contrasting ideas and supplies the film with vigour.
Shakespeare purists may think that this film is trashy, inadequate and too modern because it is so different. However, if you are open-minded and analyse the film as I have, you will perceive it from a different perspective. If Shakespeare was alive today, I think he would feel quite flattered and appreciate the fact that an amazing director has enjoyed his original so much. He has taken on board the responsibility to develop and interpret it into a modernized version, whilst still having the intelligence and recognition to preserve the everlasting quality that Shakespeare is internationally famous for; astounding poetry.
