How does Baz Luhrmann use film techniques to make Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" more accessible to a younger audience, despite retaining the original Shakespearean language?

Charlotte Swain 9P

Monday 16th June

English Coursework – Rough Draft

GCSE Media Assignment June/July 2003

How does Baz Luhrmann use film techniques to make Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” more accessible to a younger audience, despite retaining the original Shakespearean language?

Romeo and Juliet released in London around 1595 was one of two major tragedy plays written by Sir William Shakespeare often thought to be the greatest dramatist this world has ever known, proven by the fact that the story of his victimised, star crossed lovers still lives on in the hearts of people today. In 1997, over four hundred years later, a new, fresh and innovative director called Baz Luhrmann re – released Shakespeare’s ancient tale of ominous love with an aim to make it more accessible to a younger 20th century audience – he succeeded. Luhrmann wanted to retain the original Shakespearean diction as not to lose the plays infamous, poetic flare, yet change and exaggerate other ideas rendering it more enticing for a younger generation previously steered away by not only the complex dialect but also the 16th century sets, confusing staging and odd costume.

Luhrmann eliminates any initial confusion as to the roles of each character and their relationships towards each other with much needed editing, introducing the main characters in the credits of the opening scenes. He also takes the audience away from the archaic titles used by Shakespeare of Lord and Lady Capulet/Montague and adopts a more contemporary style risking naming the renowned Shakespearean characters with modern day identities such as Ted and Caroline Montague, mother and father of Romeo arch rivals of Juliet’s own stern parents Fulgencio and Gloria Capulet. Luhrmann also introduces us to other important characters from the play such as Benvolio Montague – Romeo’s cousin, Mercutio – his best friend, Captain Prince – the chief of police, Tybalt Capulet – Prince of Cats and the rich, successful Paris, proposed husband in Juliet’s arranged marriage. All of these characters preserve their original and individual Shakespearean identities, yet their personalities are re-angled and redeveloped out of Luhrmann’s own personal portrayal of them.

Another major obstacle that often repels younger people is the problem of boring, wooden Elizabethan theatre settings, showing lack of imagination and regards for modern day locations and city life. Luhrmann recognized that this would be one of his main hurdles to create an interesting, yet, realistic environment, which a present day film, based on a four hundred and two year old play could be set in. Promptly, the shift was made from Old Verona in Italy, the original setting by Shakespeare to a fictitious ‘Verona Beach’ in Long Island, California. ‘Verona Beach’ adopted a modern city style, largely populated and with varying neighbourhoods. Time allocated at the beginning of the film showed aerial and switching shots of the different environs in the ‘new’ Verona as to allow the audience to become accustomed to the settings without just plunging into the acting – this way it was more simplistic requiring less of an explanation by the actors to their whereabouts and meaning that the original language could be retained almost exactly. The director converted Shakespeare’s obsolete Montague and Capulet mansions into novel, newfangled towering Skyscrapers, simplistically labelled with ‘Capulet’ and ‘Montague’ lighted signs. The Capulet “mansion” reserved it’s 16th century feel with stone buildings, statues, monuments, vast archaic staircases and banquet halls yet was acutely adapted to appeal to today’s 20th century audience by taking into account the need for modern security CCTV systems, luxury fitness suites typical of a present day well off family and a swimming pool as Luhrmann’s way of showing that the Capulets had wealth, respect and power. The fireworks at the banquet help illustrate to an audience unfamiliar with the works of Shakespeare that the party at Capulet mansion is an important turning point in the play when the two lovers first meet. Another subtle stage adaptation that reinforces the plot strongly is the fish tank, perfectly situated between Romeo and Juliet when they first meet. It is a lifelike symbol of the feud between the families, suggesting a barrier parting Romeo and Juliet particularly relevant because they can see each other yet can never be together. Realising the significance of the fish tank also helps people unfamiliar with the story to get more of an idea about how it unfolds and the reasons behind the feud.

Away from Capulet mansion Luhrmann also had to create the rest of the city with the same intention to make it more enticing for a younger audience. Overhead scope shots give the audience a feel for what Verona Beach would look like. Typical of an American city today, it comprises expressways, busy neighbourhoods, traffic jammed roads and much modern inner city deprivation. Sycamore Grove from the original Shakespearean writing was cleverly adapted to a lively fairground and beach area where the young would gravitate and spend most their days. The pool hall situated in a run down building on the ...

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Away from Capulet mansion Luhrmann also had to create the rest of the city with the same intention to make it more enticing for a younger audience. Overhead scope shots give the audience a feel for what Verona Beach would look like. Typical of an American city today, it comprises expressways, busy neighbourhoods, traffic jammed roads and much modern inner city deprivation. Sycamore Grove from the original Shakespearean writing was cleverly adapted to a lively fairground and beach area where the young would gravitate and spend most their days. The pool hall situated in a run down building on the beach where the Montague boys socialize and where Benvolio and Romeo have a game of pool helps a younger generation realize the differences between the two households that Luhrmann must have recognized and focused on. The Capulet boys are seen as wealthy, aloof, very much more flamboyant about their religion and certainly more ruthless over the feud than the Montagues who appear quite slapdash, idle and just want to muck around – typical of young boys and obvious to an audience the differences between the youths of the two families. Possibly one of the best setting techniques that Luhrmann used was the abandoned, run down theatre at Sycamore Grove, only consisting of the stage area and the hollow arch way. Here some of the most climatic moments took place with the audiences view through the hollow arch and the actors behind it as if they were on stage at a real theatre. At the scene when Mercutio is killed by the oppressive Tybalt, the camera zoomed out to show the characters on the make believe stage through the theatre archway and no dialogue was needed as the characters ran off to the sides of the stage just like they would in a real theatre production leaving the dead Mercutio lying motionless centre stage. At various parts in the film the acting shoots back to the theatre arch at Sycamore Grove and ideally near the end after both Romeo and Juliet had taken their lives, a shot of the Grove is shown with bright stage lights illuminating a

dark and empty stage, probably how Romeo and Juliet the play would have culminated at a usual theatre production.

If Luhrmann wanted to show young people that a story such as that of Romeo and Juliet, could just as easily exist today in our fast moving, commercialized world, he needed a city that would suggest the typical life and social backgrounds of today for young people to relate, yet, still be a feasible setting to adapt the ancient love story to. Luhrmann wanted to suggest his view of the present day world, whilst also incorporating his views on Shakespeare. To make his fictitious Verona beach more appealing to the youth of today he used a lot of modern inner city deprivation, which would be typical of down town areas. He showed open prostitution, much dereliction, vandalism and graffiti all to captivate a younger audience into understanding that Romeo and Juliet is the story not it’s setting and even maybe to show that Shakespeare hinted on these problems in society but could not possibly highlight them openly due to the moral principles of the time. Luhrmann, on the other hand, showed Verona with an exaggerated open gun culture and gang warfare, there were car chases in soft-top convertibles, police chases in helicopters and news reports all to make the film more meaningful to today’s younger audience, rendering it a successful box office hit. He also wanted to portray the open drug culture of modern society, depicting the moment when Romeo took an ecstasy tablet or so-called ‘love tablet’ not only to highlight to a younger audience the disastrous effects of drugs but also to symbolize the ecstasy of youthful love between the two main characters which Shakespeare expressed through poetic love verses.

In particular, Luhrmann wanted young people to understand the themes and issues behind the play and not only the violence and love scenes it is famous for. This posed another problem, yet he did not want to change the language or the whole film would most definitely be tainted and probably not as successful. Ingeniously, Luhrmann used advertising to convey the ideas of the play to a modern world influenced greatly by mass advertising and propaganda. Throughout the film posters on walls, billboards and signs all supported the 16th century themes of the play that Shakespeare had intended. During the first brawl which took place in a gas station the camera continuously shots back to a banner transcribed with the words, ‘Add fuel to your fire,’ obviously a typical advertisement of the gas station but also with a more sinister layer of meaning symbolising the constant feud between the families and purposely being destroyed by fire as a result of the brawl, this readily highlights the path of destruction whenever the two families collide. Another advertisement this time on a billboard near the site where Mercutio is killed says ‘Shoot forth’ again symbolic of the violence and death within the play and the fact that many die so unnecessarily due to each other’s arrogance. Throughout the whole film a large, red billboard transcribed with the word ‘L’amour’ meaning love is used as a mis-en-scene included in various scenes to suggest that “Romeo and Juliet” centres on the theme of love and lust in young people. However, just after Romeo’s marriage to Juliet the ‘L’amour’ billboard is seen again, yet just after it another one with a more important message reading, ‘Such stuff which dreams are made of,’ implying which Shakespeare suggested that the love could never be, again hinting on the plot and helping the audience to understand that the lovers are not only victimised by the feud between their families but also their own hasty temperaments.

Not only does a director need the audience to understand and comprehend the themes of the play but also the reasons behind it, which, in this film predominantly focuses on religion and religious disputes. Luhrmann recognized that even though the reason for the misunderstandings between the two families has never been told that it has a great deal to do with and very much resembles a fight between the households as to who is righteous in the eyes of God – therefore both families, yet the Capulets in particular, are urged by their degenerate religious beliefs to defeat the other household. To voice his opinion and make it more understandable to younger people Luhrmann used a great deal of religious imagery throughout the film but with a certain twisted, novel delivery.

The most conspicuous religious imagery used has to be the large statue of Christ with out stretched arms between the Capulet and Montague skyscrapers. It shows intense Catholicism and the extended arms symbolize peace with the statue as a reminder of religious ethics, appealing for peace between the families. It is the Capulets more than the Montagues that Luhrmann has chosen to show as the most extravagantly religious followers of the two families, probably due to the fact they seem of a higher class and are much more socially conscious. For example, the crosses shaved into the heads of the Capulet kinsmen, ‘sin’ engraved on Abra’s (a Capulet) metal mouth guard, the ostentatiousness of the Capulet tomb with large neon crosses, adorned in rose petals and the over ornate candles and cherubs all show on over exaggerated religious mania which the Capulets seem to have. Juliet’s bedroom is also extremely over garnished with candles, angles and a shrine to the Virgin Mary as a further prompt to show the Capulet’s obsession with their religious stance. Religious issues are intertwined with the antagonism and strife between the families especially from the Capulet point of view as Luhrmann reflects self-images of the Capulets as seeing themselves the righteous ones whom are pushed on by the will of God to defeat the Montagues – the ultimate sinners. The friar (a herbalist and priest) the man who marries the two lovers has an eccentric tattoo of the crucifix on his back, showing clearly and easily that he is a holy man who wants the feud to end, therefore his reasons in helping Romeo and Juliet to secretly elope. Tybalt Capulet – Prince of Cats – is shown as a ruthless warmonger who believes that he is doing the will of God in destroying all Montagues. There is a certain irony in the fact that the bulletproof vest he is wearing and all the guns used in the film have images of the Madonna on them. The guns are named after swords which would be taken from the language in the original dialogue such as Benvolio’s ‘9mm Sword Shot’ and Ted Montagues ‘Long Sword,’ thus helping a younger audience to decipher the weapons’ names when guns are referred to as swords e.g. ‘Put up your swords.’ There is also a suggested sarcasm by the director when showing a symbol of peace on weapons of violence to prove that neither household is virtuous but instead both are corrupt and unscrupulous, defined precisely by Captain Prince, chief of police when he says after the deaths of the two lovers, ‘All are punish-ed.’

Throughout the film, strong symbolism is used to convey ideas, themes, reasoning and even opinions more easily to a younger audience but only at one point, at the fancy-dress banquet are the actors costumes used to give the audience a full understanding into their characters. Lord and Lady Capulet are appropriately dressed as ‘Antony and Cleopatra’ from another of Shakespeare’s plays, the costumes of an Egyptian Queen and a Roman

General reflect to a younger audience that the Capulet’s have power, are respected and can be quite sly and cunning to get what they want. Even more peculiar with these costumes is the fact that the story of ‘Antony and Cleopatra’ a poetic depiction of passionate, ill fated love readily resembles the story of “Romeo and Juliet” to the point that a message gone astray results in the death of both the lovers – the only difference being that Cleopatra murders herself with a poisonous asp at the sight of her dead lover, whereas, Juliet uses a dagger or in the modern version a gun. Luhrmann must have spotted this resemblance and wanted to show the similarities between the plays although could not use the characters of Romeo and Juliet in costume as Antony and Cleopatra because this would give false impressions of their personalities – due to Romeo and Juliet’s relationship being based around, true love, lust and trust and Antony and Cleopatra’s more on mistrust, lies and conspiracy although still ultimately true love and passion. Lord and Lady Capulet were the perfect characters to dress as Anthony and Cleopatra allowing those more educated on the works of Shakespeare to realize this resemblance, hinting at their characters and the eventual deaths to occur at the end of this tragedy.

The Costumes of Romeo and Juliet were done for more superficial purposes to enable a younger audience to better understand the characters’ personalities in the leading roles. Romeo as a knight is symbolic that he is a hero, or more to the point Juliet’s hero and the one who wants to end the feud by marring Juliet, evident when he says, ‘I thought all for the best.’ This is also shown at the banquet when he elaborately throws does his mask suggesting he does not want to conceal himself anymore because he sees no reason to hide for he has done nothing wrong. Even more obviously, Juliet is dressed as an angel to symbolize her purity and innocence and the fact again that she like Romeo just wants peace. The rich Paris, the governor’s son who is the proposed husband of Juliet is dressed in futuristic clothing as an astronaut, yet the symbolism is still there. His costume shows wealth and success, the astronaut reflecting America’s success in the space race and the fact that it is a wealthy nation. Another typical costume choice is Tybalt with devil horns to reinforce that he is the spiteful, evil character, relentless of the feud and will never let it go. Tybalt’s gang members – the Capulet boys – are dressed as skeletons again to show their black hearted and vile personalities, yet, Benvolio’s friends – the Montague boys – are Vikings, possibly showing that they are brave, warriors who would not give up for what they believe in. Mercutio in drag is an adaptation with a personal feel from the director, Shakespeare suggested, almost implied that Mercutio could have been gay yet never included it as part of the plot for obvious reasons. Luhrmann picked up on this implication and let it develop to show a more open gay culture of modern day and to make the play more realistic and interesting for youngsters.

At the banquet especially but also throughout the film, the music is very varied to reflect the moods of the scenes and actors at that time. When Romeo takes the ecstasy drug, the music is wild and spirited with a rapid tempo and stuttered rhythm; the lyrics to the song are, ‘Young hearts run free,’ insinuating that a dramatic, passionate and fast-moving story is about to unfold in the young lovers lives’. At the point when Romeo and Juliet first meet either side of the fish tank acting as a barrier between them, a soft, meditational and soothing song is sung with the gentle lyrics, ‘I’m, I’m kissing you, ohh, I’m missing you ohh,’ this suggests they have only just met when they are immediately madly in love evident from the ‘kissing you’ but are already torn away evident by ‘missing you’ – Juliet is always being pulled away by her family honour and not disrespecting her father, while Romeo is constantly warned off by his friends. These lyrics help an audience of any age to realize that the couple can never be together despite their true love. Other songs such as ‘love fool’ by the cardigans with the lyrics ‘love me, love me, say that you love me …’ reflect the happy, contented scenes when Romeo and Juliet are besotted with each other and eager to proclaim their love. The music played when Romeo was discussing marrying Juliet with the friar has a much more deeper meaning, lyrics such as, ‘Maybe I’m just like my mother, maybe I’m just like my father…’ proves doubts whether the wedding should go ahead, what if Romeo and Juliet turn out to be like their parents against each other because as Juliet has mentioned earlier, ‘my only love spawn from my only hate,’ what if that hate would eventually mean the destruction of their love? Other music such as the intense, choral harmonies signifies the importance of religion in the feud but also gives an enthralling introduction to the film. In Mercutio’s last, dying moments, the music becomes ardent and profound with a penetrating crescendo of gospel chords to signal his eventual death.

Other techniques used to help convey moments of particular importance and changes of mood in the film are changes in weather condition and the cameras shots within the scene. For instance, at the fight scene on the beach when Tybalt kills Mercutio, Luhrmann uses pathetic fallacy to create a gloomy overcast shift in the weather with thunder roaring and storm clouds brewing. The rain pours at the point when Romeo murders Tybalt highlighting the disaster in what has happened and dampening the mood and atmosphere of the whole play to make the audience worried by what is to happen and shocked by what already has. At the fight scene earlier in the film, the camera does a close – up shot on Benvolio’s blue soothing eyes when he says, ‘Poor fools, you know not what you do,’ showing that he is the peace maker and wishes not to fight. Just after that there is another close – up, this time on Tybalt’s black, sinister eyes when he says, ‘Peace, peace, I hate the word,’ showing he is the exact opposite, a relentless agitator who stirs up trouble and bears a heavy grudge. When Romeo has taken the ecstasy drug, the camera techniques vary from slow motion, to speed–ups, panning across the whole banquet room and spiralling all to try and give the audience and insight into the actor’s head after taking the drug and the world as he sees it. Underwater shots show both the actors when looking down into a sink bowl inferring that both want to escape their worlds and find peace and happiness, ironically when they find that with each other they are also in a swimming pool where an underwater screen kiss takes place. Aerial shots show all the characters in the scene at that time such as when Mercutio is killed, the aerial shot helps evaluate the situation for the audience and acclimatizes the importance of this scene to the plot. The final aerial shot of the altar and the centrepiece bed at the Capulet tomb shows the dead lovers after both committing suicide surrounding by candles and religious adornment.

Finally, a comment needs to be made on the evident adaptations to the delivery of the prologue and various other reports and speeches throughout the film, making it more inviting to a younger audience who would easily bore of a storyteller clarifying the events. At the beginning of the play the prologue is delivered not by an actor at the side of the screen but via a CNN news report retelling the drastic tale of the two star crossed lovers. At other various points in the play T.V broadcasting is used to replace and eliminate the need for a narrator such as the

advertisement for the Capulet banquet, done on a chat show and the coverage of the civil brawls which Romeo is informed of through a news report rather than a messenger such as in the play. Other persuasive advertising is done via newspapers and magazines like the Capulet industry promotions and front-page covers of the ‘gallant’ Paris to show his excessive wealth. To conclude the film the speech at the end of the play reverts to the same news reporter setting the scene at the beginning as if the whole story has been one long news coverage, again drawing on modern conventions and proving that throughout Luhrmann has been able to engage a younger audience whether it be by staging, delivery, imagery, symbolism, camera techniques and props from beginning to end of his production. The final statement is no exception, finishing the film in exactly the same way as it archaically pronounces, yet with a touch of modernism declares, ‘For never has there been a story of more woe, than that of Juliet and her Romeo.’

By Charlotte Swain