Do you think that Baz Luhrmann or Franco Zeffirelli is more successful in their presentation of the last act of Romeo and Juliet?

Another change that Franco Zeffirelli makes is that when Friar Lawrence leaves Juliet he says "I dare no longer stay" four times whereas in the play he says it only once. This change works well as it highlights Friar Lawrence's cowardliness in abandoning Juliet. This is the last time we see Friar Lawrence in the film. In the play he returns after Romeo and Juliet are found dead, having been caught by a watch, to explain to Romeo and Juliet's parents how everything came about. It is obvious why Zeffirelli leaves this speech out as the audience already know everything that Friar Lawrence says in this speech and they probably don't want to hear it all again. However it does leave the audience wondering how the Prince and the parents of Romeo and Juliet find out about Romeo and Juliet's marriage and everything else that has happened. Also, in the Zeffirelli film Capulet's and Montague's last speeches where they end the feud are left out but in the background as the credits are going up the screen we see the two families making up. Lady Montague is included in this making up but we are told in the play that she has died of grief for Romeo's exile, earlier that evening. The final difference between this film and the play is that the concluding speech in the film is said by a narrator, while in the play it is said by the Prince.

The Baz Luhrmann film changes quite a lot more than the Zeffirelli film. This is probably because it is set in modern times. Therefore guns replace daggers, notes replace gold and cars replace horses or donkeys. The first difference between this film and the play is that Romeo gets the poison from a man with a billiard table instead of in the play when he gets it from an apothecary. Another change is that in the play Romeo is not discovered to have come back into Verona. In the film he is chased by several helicopters. This adds excitement to the film but perhaps is a bit over the top. There is really no point to it. Another thing changed is that Juliet is in a church instead of the crypt that she is in, in the play.

In what is scene three of the play, the film leaves out a number of characters. Firstly Paris is left out presumably for the same reasons as he was left out of the Zeffirelli film. Secondly Tybalt's body is not present in this film. This is probably because this last scene is set in a church and not in a crypt so there would not be any other bodies there. Another possible reason why Tybalt's body was left out is that Baz Luhrmann perhaps did not want to remind the audience that Romeo had killed someone as he did not want the audience to lose any sympathy for Romeo. The final character omitted from the Luhrmann film is Friar Lawrence, which means his long speech explaining everything to the Prince and Romeo and Juliet's parents is also omitted.

But the most major thing that Baz Luhrmann changes is the timing of Juliet's wakening. In the play Juliet wakens a few minutes after Romeo has taken the poison. In the film Juliet wakes up just as Romeo kisses her. She watches him taking the poison without saying anything. She watches him die. The timing is most cruel and makes the tragedy even more poignant. This was probably Luhrmann's reason for changing this. At the end of the film we see Juliet and Romeo's bodies being taken away in ambulances which is different from the play and then the Prince shouts at both families saying "All are punished" twice whereas in the play he only says it once in the play. The concluding speech of the film is said by a television newsreader while in the play the Prince says it.

However the production that stays closer to the original story of Romeo and Juliet i.e. the Franco Zeffirelli film, is not necessarily the most successful in its presentation of the last act. There are many other factors that have to be taken into consideration. Firstly, the standard of acting greatly affects how successful the presentation is. In the Zeffirelli film when Romeo, (Leonard Whiting) says the line,

"I defy you stars"

he does not seem to really be defiant or even meaningful so I think the acting could perhaps have been better here. However, in the Baz Luhrmann film when Romeo (Leonardo DiCaprio) says this same line he has broken down into tears so this also does not seem very defiant. However unlike the Zeffirelli version Leonardo DiCaprio really does seem to mean this line when he says it. I also think Juliet's acting in the Baz Luhrmann version was better. Olivia Hussey, who played Juliet in the Zeffirelli film, did not seem to ever be truly upset. Her crying sounded quite false and at times got quite irritating. Juliet's (Claire Danes) emotions in the Baz Luhrmann film always sounded genuine.

Music is used in films to add an atmosphere to the scene. Therefore music is also important in deciding which film is more successful in their presentation of the last act of Romeo and Juliet. In the Zeffirelli film in which the music was written by Nino Rota, there seems to be about three different tunes, which occur again and again. However this is quite effective in that every time we see Romeo and Juliet together the love theme music is played in the background and when Romeo is killing himself this music is played loudly in the background to add tension to the scene. In the Baz Luhrmann film there are quite a few different pieces of music used. The music is also affective in this film as the right sort of music is used to build up an atmosphere for the goings-on of each scene.

The lighting in the last scene of the last act is important in the films. In the Zeffirelli version the last scene of the last act is mainly in the crypt. Therefore the lighting used would need to build up quite an eerie setting. Franco Zeffirelli achieves this by using torchlight and the darkness shows that bad things are about to happen. The lighting in the last scene of the last act of the Baz Luhrmann version is set in a church. The lighting is very effective. There are hundreds of candles and crosses. The crosses perhaps symbolise the sacrifice of Romeo and Juliet. That is that they died because their parents hated eachother but then their deaths made them stop fighting. However maybe the crosses aren't really true to the play as religion is never mentioned in the play. Shakespeare only ever refers to the stars, the heavens and fate.

In the Baz Luhrmann film some different camera effects are used in the last scene of the last act. For example when Juliet picks up the gun with which she shoots herself and puts it to her head, the film is in slow motion. This is quite affective in that it builds up the suspense before Juliet kills herself. Also after Romeo and Juliet have died there are flashbacks of their time together and showing how happy they were. These are very effective in that they really highlight the tragedy of their deaths.

Taking all of this into account I have come to the conclusion that Baz Luhrmann is more successful in his presentation of the last act of Romeo and Juliet. I think that Baz Luhrmann brings out the tragedy more in his production. The acting is superior and the music more varied. I think the flashbacks at the end are a very good touch, which really appeal to the emotions. I also think that it was very clever that Baz Luhrmann managed to successfully bring Romeo and Juliet into the present day and although Baz Luhrmann makes many changes to the story and even dares to make the major change in the timing of Juliet's wakening I think Shakespeare would not have been against these changes; he may even have been pleased with them as they were clever and he himself made many changes to the original source of Romeo and Juliet, Romeus and Juliet.