There are major differences in the two films and the book. The five differences in this paper are the clothes, scenes, weapons used, death scenes, and also the race of the characters in the 1996 version. In the 1996 version, Luhrmann used weapons in his version of Romeo and Juliet. In the original text the characters used swords and in the 1968 version the characters used swords. Why didn’t Luhrmann use swords? Maybe he wanted to entertain his viewers. Keep in mind, this is 1996, every television show that was around had gunfights and action involved. So Luhrmann probably thought that if he used swords then his viewers wouldn’t be entertained as much if he used guns.
The second difference is the beginning scene of the 1996 version, in the text the play opened up in a town square, and in the 1968 version they opened the play also in a town square. In the 1996 version the play was opened up in a gas station. I think that Luhrmann used the gas station because he thought that the characters need a place to meet up in besides in the middle of the street.
The other difference is the clothes in the 1996 version. Zefirelli used clothes that he thought that people wore back in the day. Maybe Luhrmann used those brightly colored silk shirts because at that point in time that was very popular, the Versace designed shirts. Also the third and most obvious difference is the race of the actors in the 1996 version. Baz Luhrmann used Black men to play the roles of Mercutio and the Prince. And he used a Puerto Rican man to play the role of Tybalt. Why did he do that? In the 1968 version Zeffirelli didn’t use any minorities in his version of Romeo and Juliet. Maybe the reason why is because in 1968 the civil rights movement was going on and America really didn’t consider blacks as human beings, so he probably didn’t put blacks on his version because of the time period. And lastly, the final death scene in the 1996 version was not like the 1968 version and also the original text. In the 1996 version, Luhrmann used a church for the death scene. Again I say that this version was more moderns because he used a church. In 1996 not a lot of people rich or poor were placed in a tomb so he made it look like they died in the church.
So basically, in conclusion the 1996 version of Romeo and Juliet is in my opinion better than the 1968 version because it is more entertaining. I believe that the viewers can relate more to it because it has action guns and love, and 1968 version I like also because it stayed with the text it had more of an original setting and related more to the book. I can go on and on with the differences but the two films were both good interpretations of Romeo and Juliet, so good that I believe if Shakespear was able to see the two films he would be very proud of both directors.
