The Capulets are portrayed as the mean people and they come across as much tougher and violent people than the Montagues. The different images that the two households have are very effective and help the audience to understand who is who. Tybalt the “Prince of Cats” is introduced to the audience with great effect. As he gets out of the car the camera focuses only on his steel heeled leather boots. He walks towards the Montagues and every stride he takes is emphasised as his steel heeled boots clang as they hit the ground. The camera is still only focused on his boots and the audience don’t actually know who this man is yet, he has not yet been introduced as Tybalt. This creates tension and helps to make the opening scene effective because the audience don’t know whom he is or what is going to happen next. All they know is that the boots come across as something an aggressive person would wear and that the man is a Capulet, so an aggressive Capulet could mean a fight. To increase the tension the music has stopped playing so all the audiences’ minds are focused on are Tybalt’s boots. The camera now introduces Tybalt and focuses on all his body. He drops a cigar that he was smoking on the floor and again the camera changes its shot to one that is zoomed in on Tybalt’s feet and the ground beneath them. He grinds the cigar out with the bottom of his heel and the sound effects are loud so that the audience can here. The scraping sound that the steel heel makes as he crushes the cigar gives the audience the feeling that he is ruthless and that he probably treats people in a similar way to his cigar. He just grinds them beneath his feet if they get in his way. Extinguishes them! The fact that Tybalt was smoking in a petrol station shows that he is ruthless and that he doesn’t obey rules.
Once the camera has finished focusing on the cigar it zooms in on a signpost that reads “Careful fire hazard” on it. This is again to create tension and for the audience to think about what is going to happen next. The opening scene of Romeo and Juliet is definitely based on tension build-ups. Humour follows this tense scene to help to break it up a little. One of the Montagues hides behind an old woman’s car door, as he is scared about what is going to happen next. He has pink punk style hair and is wearing a garish t-shirt. He looks so ridiculous that anyone would have to have at least a slight giggle at the sight of him. To add to that the lady whose car it is panics and thinks that the Montague is going to hurt her so she begins hitting him with her handbag. This is just comical and when you can actually watch his face and hers you have to laugh. These little acts of humour do make the scene effective as they break up the tension and then this allows it to be built back up again without the audience getting bored. The weapons in this film are guns with the brand name “sword”. It should be noted that the engraving on the guns is “SWORD” therefore when “put up your swords” is spoken it is meant as guns.
In Act 3 Scene 1,the ‘Capulet boys’ appear; in the background, you can hear western music. Which suggests there’s going to be a duel. The Capulet’s have come to find Romeo because Tybalt had seen him at the Capulet’s party the night before. This scene is a key moment of tension as this scene leads to Mercutio’s death. Mercutio’s role in this play is very imperative because his death is the turning point when the play becomes a tragedy. Tybalt insults Romeo and uses the party as an excuse to fight: “Turn and draw.” Romeo’s love for Juliet and the fact that he has married a Capulet causes him a great deal of discomfort during this scene. He does not want to fight Tybalt. Romeo tries to flatter Tybalt to diffuse the situation.
The shot sequence in the Baz Luhrmann movie is very meaningful for the tension of the scene. He has a variety of camera shots implied. He first uses a Medium Shot on Tybalt’s face. He uses this type of shot to illustrate Tybalt’s body language. This is an establishing shot because it sets the scene. In this scene he shows Mercutio’s face repeatedly as a close up shot and also as a reaction shot. This shot tells us that he is going to do something astonishing and shocking in the fight. The close up also shows his individual emotions. His facial expressions are very angry and frustrated.
Women played a completely different role in society in Elizabethan times than they do today. Wealthy upper class women like Juliet were expected to obey their fathers' wishes and marry at their command. Loving someone was not an excuse to marry someone. Fathers arranged marriages mainly for social reasons like wealth. In the case of Juliet she was forced to marry when secretly she was already married to her true love Romeo. Juliet at the time fought passionately to stop the arranged marriage. This would be most unusual at the time for young a woman to fight back against her father's wishes. This event would have surprised and stunned the crowd watching.
When Lady Capulet arrives bringing good news in Act 3 Scene 5 saying, "Marry, my child". Juliet's horror was observed and the response of the audience was shocking. By this time in the play the audience would be completely involved in the play and on their edge of their seats, some must be sympathetic towards Juliet, some laughing with the dramatic irony, but all truly sunken in the story. Capulet is extremely angry at Juliet's direct refusal of the generous offer he has made. There is also a fear in the atmosphere for Juliet. While directing this film Baz Luhrmann used many theatrical devices like the music. The tempo of the music upsurges when Capulet walks in; this builds up tension because he has brought good news that Juliet can’t accept. His movement is emotional and poigient. The body language is very important for this scene as it is an aggressive scene and there is a lot of physical movement. Juliet has a defensive posture while Capulet has an angry and fuming posture. The movement of Capulet is very mystified and confused, he is also angry because he cannot take that Juliet rejected an offer from a noble family. The speed of the mother slows down at the end of the scene. The facial expression for each character is diverse. Capulets is negative while Juliet’s is defiant and angry and Lady Capulets is horrified and pale. The little detail of everything by Luhrmann helps create a tense environment.
The filming of the shots help work out the mood of the characters. It also can tell another characters point of view. The Fathers face has been repeatedly zoomed in this helps work out the facial expression and the body posture. The close up of the father is very effective because it shows power and anger and also we could see that he’s more dominant than the rest. The High angle Shot of Juliet on the bed shows the weak and defensive body posture. This also shows how controlling her father is. The low angle shot of Capulet and Lady Capulet shows how prevailing and ascendant they are. The effect created could be the audience sympathising Juliet. The medium shot of Lady Capulet and Capulet together shows that they are together and they both feel the same way. The effect created is that Juliet is gone weak because two authoritative and prevailing bodies have gone against one.
By the end of the harsh fight of words and angry exchange of feelings Juliet is left shattered and exhausted weeping with despair. The audience feel immensely upset and probably want to comfort Juliet.
In conclusion, Luhrmann has created an exciting and highly rated adaptation to the original story in many ways including visual imagery like his powerful music, vivid colours, contrasting costumes and exciting camera techniques. Generally, the first scene has established the mood and set the scene in many ways. In the first scene he has mixed comedy with action successfully enough to capture the modern day audience. I think that by incorporating modern issues such as homosexuality, drugs and violence he has made the film more relevant to today’s society. I also think this film is an accurate insight of Shakespeare’s themes and ideas. This film, in my opinion, is complex yet simple. That is why it is so successful and can be watched and understood by everybody.
