The cast that Luhrmann chose, all fit into their characters very effectively. Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes portray their characters as innocent, young lovers who only want their undoubtful love to be accepted but know that it would be impossible for it to be authorised by their families who are abhorrent to one another.
When Romeo and Juliet first meet they are in the toilets. We don't really get to see what they are wearing but we do when Juliet is dragged back into the party by her nurse and Romeo follows. Juliet starts to dance with Paris who is bachelor of the year! It is apparent that she is dressed as an angel - this is to express her virtue and purity. Her hair from the back is in the shape of a halo. We first see Paris in this scene dancing with Juliet to ‘Kissing You’ by Des’ree and we see him dressed as a spaceman - is he in a world of his own, as he doesn't notice that Juliet isn't interested in him and she is looking around at Romeo.
When we look at Romeo's costume he is dressed as a knight - this suggests that he wants to be Juliet's knight and shining armour, and to protect her. As soon as Tybalt has spotted Romeo at the party, he is ready to battle with him, and we see he is dressed as a devil. At heart we see that all Tybalt cares about is having battles with the enemy. He wants to come across as hard and as though nothing can scare him, but later in the film, just after killing Mercutio and Romeo is on the hunt for him, we see that he fears for his life as he knows it is over. The facial expressions we see, is an expression of worry.
The party is set at the Capulet Mansion. As Romeo, Mercutio and friends arrive, the garden is full of fairground rides and we see that fireworks are set off. This makes the party lively and energetic and the fireworks are scintillating. As we have seen, Romeo has taken the pill and the rides and fireworks demonstrate the effects of the drug. During the party he begins to feel faint and goes to the toilets to wash his face, and this is where he meets Juliet for the first time. In the original story, they were supposed to meet across a crowded room, but this is another adaptation Lurhmann has made to the story.
When they meet in the toilets, it gives them a chance to explore one another - look at each other. Also, we have just seen Romeo wash away his love for Rosaline - his 'first' love. He thought she was the "one" but she didn't love him, and he was heartbroken because of this - and now he can see through fresh eyes. This way, by washing his love away of Rosaline, he can now see true love and when he sees Juliet he knows he never truly loved Rosaline.
When Romeo and Juliet first kiss in the ascending lift, they are floating up to 'cloud nine' - they are in their own world. But when they come back down in the lift, they are being brought back down to Earth and with a bump, as just minutes after their first kiss they realise that they come from families that hate one another and they know their love for one another will never be accepted.
Throughout the film we see colour being used in different ways. At the beginning of the scene I am studying, we watch Romeo take an ecstasy pill. As soon as he has taken it, there are colourful, loud fireworks going off, to show that his brain is exploding from the effects of the drug. Everything that he sees while under the influence of the drug is very vibrant. Later, when he goes to the toilets and whilst 'freshening up', he notices a fish tank. It has pale blue lighting - to represent a sense of calm, it's away from the party which is very bold. It is here that Romeo meets Juliet. Suddenly, everything in the party calms down. When Romeo and Juliet first kiss in the lift, the lift is white - to show innocence and purity.
The lighting used in the party is very bright during the song to ‘Young hearts run free’ but when the song changes to ‘Kissing you’, the lights are dimmed whilst everyone slow dances to the song, but once it has finished the lights are turned up. When Romeo and Juliet meet in the toilets, the lighting is very soft. Although it may be soft here, it was very bright at the beginning of the party because the moods of the song changed during the party.
At the beginning of the party when Mercutio and friends are driving up the drive to the party, everything is in slow motion. This once again is to emphasize the effect of the drug. The camera shots taken of Romeo inside the party, before he meets Juliet are all close ups. As everything gets louder, things also seem to happen more quickly as time progresses. Then, when it starts to climax and you think Romeo will faint, the camera shots spin around him. Then a shot of him washing away his mask and it is just drifting down, and then being left there.
When we see images of Romeo and Juliet in the fish tank, it is gradually building up to them meeting one another. We first see a shot of Romeo exploring the tank. We still see him looking through the tank and then he sees an eye. He is startled and because he is startled so is she. We then get images of him on his own, her on her own, him again, and then her again. But the next shot is one of her and him together. Here we foresee into the future of the film and the reflection of her on the glass of the tank, next to Romeo, makes it look as though they are or will be a couple. The next shot of his reflection next to her in the tank but then their soft and gentle moment is interrupted by Juliet’s nurse, who breaks the moment with a harsh stern voice.
After sharing their first kiss and being interrupted once again by the nurse, when Romeo realises that Juliet is a Capulet, the look of shock on his face, and then her face, the camera shots here are very slow - they face him and then on her and back to him watching her run off to try and get a better view of him.
The music throughout the scene starts off lively, then it’s calm, then it is romantic and suddenly turns minor. The first song played is “young hearts run free”, the lyrics represent the meaning of the play. Romeo and Juliet are very young - only 13/14 years old and before meeting one another their hearts are running free, but after meeting, this is when they don’t run free anymore. The next song played - ‘kissing you’ is played whilst Romeo and Juliet are kissing one another but when they are pulled apart from one another, the music is soft and is played in major but when it hits Romeo that Juliet is a Capulet, the music suddenly deepens and turns into minor.
In conclusion to my essay, I believe that Baz Luhrmann has interpreted the play very differently to the way the book was wrote. He has thought about it very carefully and the film reflects that. I think to improve the film, Baz Luhrmann should have involved Paris more as we could have seen his feelings when he finds out that they were a couple at the end of the film. I particularly enjoyed this scene of the film and my favourite part was where Romeo and Juliet first meet in the toilets with the fish tank.
