Comparison between Act 3 Scene 1 in Franco Zeferelli's Romeo and Juliet and in Baz Luhrman's Romeo and Juliet.

GCSE Media Coursework

Comparison between Act 3 Scene 1 in Franco Zeferelli’s Romeo and Juliet and in Baz Luhrman’s Romeo and Juliet.

I am going to compare the two pieces of ‘Romeo and Juliet, Act 3 Scene 1’ that I have been studying for the past few weeks. I have been looking at; Camera shots, setting, special effects, moods, costumes, characters, etc. These things are severely thought of by the director before and during the making of the film.

I have been looking at Baz Luhrman’s Romeo and Juliet and Franco Zeferelli’s Romeo and Juliet.

The budget for Franco Zeferelli’s film had a much smaller budget than Baz Luhrmans did. This was because the film industry didn’t really want Romeo and Juliet to be brought out at that time. Whereas, Baz Luhrman’s version was much more appealing as younger people would want to watch it. The result of this was that Franco Zeferelli had to cast unknown actors.

Many interpretations of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet have come and gone, two of the most famous are listed below:

West Side Story by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins – The musical tale of Rivals, The Sharks and The Jets, being brought together by Tony (Jet) and Maria’s (Shark) love. In this interpretation there are a lot of issues on racism.
Romeo must die by Andrzej Bartkowiak – This hard – hitting film is a war between a Japanese company on the docks and an African-American company on the docks, fighting over land. In this situation, an unlikely ...

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Many interpretations of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet have come and gone, two of the most famous are listed below:

West Side Story by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins – The musical tale of Rivals, The Sharks and The Jets, being brought together by Tony (Jet) and Maria’s (Shark) love. In this interpretation there are a lot of issues on racism.
Romeo must die by Andrzej Bartkowiak – This hard – hitting film is a war between a Japanese company on the docks and an African-American company on the docks, fighting over land. In this situation, an unlikely couple emerge (Han Sing and Trish O’Day).

There are many preferences to Romeo and Juliet in many different types of Media, e. g:

In the Bon Jovi song, ‘Always’ , The first line is ‘It’s Romeo that’s bleeding’
The song ‘Romeo and Juliet’ by Dire Straights

There are hundreds upon thousands of Internet links to Romeo and Juliet/Shakespeare websites or information.

There are many differences between Baz Luhrman’s Romeo and Juliet (1997) and Franco Zefferelli’s Romeo and Juliet (1968).

When thinking about contrast between these two productions many things need to be taken into consideration, one of the most important things is setting, as it can give great emphasis on the situation.

I realize how much time has passed while watching these two films, the things I have noticed are listed below:

Daggers and swords → Guns
Soft voices → Tough voices
Friendly → Rivalry

In the 1968 version, the fight scene is in the town square on a bright, sunny day, making the situation look happy and shiny. Whereas in the 1997 version, the fight scene takes place on the cleverly named ‘Verona beach’ (Venice beach is a notorious gangster hotspot), this fight scene also takes place on a bright, sunny day, but this time it’s not a clean heat, it’s more of a clammy, angry heat, which soon turns into a full blown storm to add drama.

I am going to merge characters and costumes together as they do go hand in hand in both films. There is a very friendly environment in the 1968 film, there is no direct separation between the Montagues and the Capulets as they are both really friendly and cheerful and both wear mixed hot and cold colours. In the 1997 version there is a very apparent tension: the Montagues wear warm colours and shorts and the Capulets wear very dark colours and leather/denim trousers.

Camera shots add a lot to the production of a film. Due to the time gap between both films, there is a great difference in the camera shots. For example: the 1968 version uses mostly medium shots and little movement, the 1997 version, however, uses a wide range of shots and lots of movement without any shakiness whatsoever.

The 1968 version uses a lot of string and classical music, making the situation more intense.

Franco Zefferelli has imagined his characters with refined accents and the Received Pronunciation. Baz Luhrman, on the other hand, gives his characters casual, contemporary American. This is a very big difference and the more recent version is a lot more welcoming to younger and older people, giving it a wider range of audience.

Zefferelli’s version is a lot more jovial than Luhrman’s, e. g. When Mercutio is stabbed he knows he’s injured and makes puns about it in Zefferelli’s and in Luhrman’s he makes jokes and a little later realizes the extent to his injuries.

In conclusion, I have noticed not just big, but huge differences between Franco Zefferelli’s Romeo and Juliet and Baz Luhrman’s Romeo and Juliet. I prefer Baz Luhrman’s offering, I usually like the classic versions of things, but Franco Zefferelli’s version just didn’t affect me as Baz Luhrman’s did.

Helen Leach