The first thing you notice about this scene is how tacky Juliet’s mother looks in her dress. It looks tacky because it pushes up her boobs and she looks really fake, the director dresses this actress in this way so then Romeo and Juliet stand out more and it gives out the message to the audience that Juliet is nothing like her mother and doesn’t want to be either.
The fish tank shows that Romeo and Juliet are apart but together because they can see each other this is reflecting their family position because they know they cant be together because of their family position. There are lots of close ups of Romeo and Juliet to show their emotions. Juliet looks very different to her mother. She looks very simple in her white angels suit she also looks pure. Romeo also looks very simple in his silver suit; they both stand out from the crowd and the rest of the people there. They look as though they shouldn’t be on the earth they should be in heaven, which is a reminiscence of what is going to happen in the future.
The atmosphere at the ball is very sinister and I felt that there was also a tense atmosphere too. I thought this was because all the people there were dressed as devils, the music changes in reminiscence of what is going to happen in the future; it is a theme, the modern music suggest Mercutio is neutral because he is not tense and is having a good time without looking over his shoulder all the time.
Both Romeo and Juliet are dressed so they stand out from the crowd by being so understated. The silver suit Romeo is wearing and the angel suit Juliet is wearing sends across a message to the audience that they are not supposed to be in this world.
The music in this scene is very slow and romantic and is perfect place for them to fall in love and be together.
The theme of this scene is water; this signifies pureness just like the love of Romeo and Juliet, this carries on throughout the film. The setting on the balcony is quiet and away from all the fighting that is going on between the two families.
The music plays a big part in this scene, especially when Mercutio gets shot. The music goes sad and slow and sounds rather grim reflecting the mood of the character and the way they act, by doing this it makes the mood more dramatic. The weather also helps the scene more dramatic by backing the mood so there is twice the amount of dramatics. For example when Mercutio gets stabbed the weather changes from sunny to rain symbolizing dark, gray surroundings.
Romeo has refused to fight Tybalt because Romeo is part of the family, but Tybalt thinks it is because Romeo is scared of fighting him. The audience would easily be able to tell that was the case because Tybalt has no sympathy for Romeo so the audience would no that Tybalt has no idea that Romeo is part of the family. Mercutio tries to be brave when Tybalt stabs him but the audience can tell that Mercutio is in pain by the expressions on his face and knows he is going to die. Mercutio’s death was sad because he was a middleman between the two families, and that no good comes with fighting and the person who gets hurt is always the person who has done nothing. Mercutio says ‘ a plague on both your houses’, this is suggesting that he is cursing both the families and blaming them for his death.
The stage signifies that Shakespeare wrote this play and shows that the director makes it as true and unchanged as possible. A decaying stage may also signify a decaying society. When the music and weather change with the mood, this is called sympathetic fallacy.
It shows a clip of Juliet in between two scenes this is called juxtaposition, the clip of Juliet is in the middle of two dramatic, loud, angry and violent scenes. To the audience it makes Juliet seem more pure and innocent and make the two scenes either side of the clip more violent and more dramatic.
When Romeo shoots Tybalt there is silence, this is shown by having no music, also to make the scene more dramatic, the camera zooms in on Romeo’s face this also shows he didn’t think before he shot Tybalt and now regrets it.
I thought this scene was unrealistic because after Tybalt had the car crash he wasn’t even hurt. I think that Romeo’s cousin tells him it was Romeo because he wanted the fighting between the families to end. Also there is not as much violence in the Capulet family, so he may have thought it was the right thing to do.
When Romeos friend tells Romeo that Juliet is dead Romeo thinks it is a joke at first. When he realizes it is true the music changes to sad and slow. This is shock taking over. Then when he takes it in he knows he has to be with her
When Romeo goes for the poison the place is dark and gray signifying death and the man who serves Romeo looks gruesome and evil this is deliberate it suggest to the audience that sinister things are going to happen.
When Romeo goes to find Juliet the action is very fast and dramatic the action is speeded up by the music, it is very fast paced. Also the helicopter chases after Romeo so this speeds up the action. I think this is because the audience takes everything in really fast and relies his true, real love for Juliet and you see how much he wants to be with Juliet. It is as though you have just started watching an action movie.
The way Romeo holds the innocent man hostage is another way of showing his true love to Juliet by showing he will sacrifice another mans life for his love of Juliet. Inside the church the dramatic scene stops, it is quiet, the neon crosses are tacky because the director wants you to focus the audiences attention on Juliet but the director still wants the candles to be there because this shows peace and harmony, it also shows a back flash in a way as it is very similar to the wedding. This is ironic because the wedding was very happy but the death of these two is very sad but the same props have still been used. The crosses also remind me of the earlier ball scene. The mood is sinister and there is also a religious mood to the scene. The candles around Juliet signify peace. When Romeo kills him self, for the first time in the film there is silence this tells me that they are both gone from this world forever- all for love, and also throughout the film the music has reflected the mood but in this part there is no music this is suggesting to the audience that love has expired. When Juliet kills herself the echo is really loud this emphasizes the drama of the scene, and ends with them lying there together in peace and pureness around them.
I did like this film in a lot of ways. I thought the director chose the actors well, because using Leonardo Decaprio really promoted the film, and using Clair Dames, you really warm to her as she is a plain actress and seems so young and real. I thought Baz Lurhmann chose the location well because this is where, I think Shakespeare would of set it if he was alive today as it looked exciting and attention grabbing. I also like the way he used the music because it made the scenes more dramatic and powerful in some cases. He also used the weather to the same effect. The music that he uses comes from the sound track so it is people who are singing not just the music that adds to the effect. I liked the way he used candles to signify pureness and the stage to show the origin of the play.
The only thing I didn’t like was that some parts of the film where unrealistic, for example when Tybalt tipped over the car he got out and he wasn’t even hurt but I understand that when Romeo shot him it would’ve as realistic and as dramatic if Tybalt was nearly dead. Overall I thought it was well planned out and a very good film.
