Then, when the Nurse pulls Juliet away, the party atmosphere with people talking immediately comes back, making the audience divert the attention back onto the wider picture, but, more subtly, it makes us, as the very eager audience, want to know more about how Romeo and Juliet will pan out from there. At times, there is the slow, depressing music, when Juliet would look back at Romeo whilst being dragged away by the Nurse, and Romeo would hurry up to catch up with Juliet.
On a more general note, we can all feel the anger then Tybalt finds out that Romeo is a Montague, with the more thunderous, down-to-Earth, music being played.
Thirdly, another key aspect Luhrmann used to make this film so brilliant in my opinion is his choice of clothing.
We can clearly get a feel of how grand the Capulets were. Lady Capulet wore a gold dress, showing how high in status she was. Capulet, likewise being so high in status, wore a plush purple robe at the formal event, showing that they were very rich and liked to flaunt what they had.
Interestingly, Paris seemed to be wearing some sort of astronaut, spaceship costume. This might suggest that he was pretty smart, rich, high in status too, and quite proud of himself, as stereotypically, I see astronauts like that, as it is a very grand, albeit difficult, job to take on, and so Paris might have thought very fondly about himself.
The wings on Juliet’s back might also suggest to us viewers that Juliet was the ‘angelic’, good-girl type of character, who would want everything to be right for herself.
Romeo’s knight suit also caught my attention. Again stereotypically, I associate knights in shining armour as the sort of people who would always come to the rescue and save the day, and would woo people away. This is really brought out in Romeo – another reason why I believe Baz Luhrmann directed this film superbly well (this was no fluke!).
In contrast, the devil horns worn by Tybalt brought his character out. By nature, Tybalt does act and speak like ‘The Devil’ – always aggressive and wanting to create mutiny – and this was a very suitable prop used.
Mercutio’s white wig, lipstick, and horrendous dancing and singing might have shown us what the tradition and fashion was like back then, and it brought the sarcastic, confident character out of him, who loves a good pun and sexual innuendo, as we will find out later in the play.
Another effective part Luhrmann used to give Romeo & Juliet that edge of reality is the way he directed it all, and the actors’ use of expressions.
Romeo (Leonardo di Caprio) and Juliet (Claire Danes) portray fantastic characters, and you can visibly see that they are elated when together, but wanting and torn when they are pulled apart. Looking further on into the play, Juliet does say in Act 2 Scene 2,
“Parting is such sweet sorrow.” 184
This further backs up my initial point, and we can visibly see they love when together, and are wanting love when apart.
Between Romeo and Juliet, we can see a lot of deep eye-gazing. When Romeo is looking at Juliet constantly from the other side of the fish tank, she gazes back, but then, as any ordinary shy girl would, looks away, slightly embarrassed. The sombre music accompanying this really brings this to reality, about the “pair of star-crossed lovers”.
There is also a lot of anger and hatred between Tybalt and Romeo. In the play, in Act 1 Scene 5, between lines 53 and 91, when Tybalt is explaining to Capulet that Romeo “by his voice, should be a Montague”, we can evidently see how much Tybalt despises the fact that “that villain Romeo” is “here in my house”. Furthermore, when Tybalt says, “I’ll not endure him”, we can all clearly see actually how much he dislikes him, and he cannot even stand being under the same roof as him, even just for that one party, and this hatred is further developed in the film brilliantly.
The use of the camera shots, for example, long shots focussing on the two lovers, along with the sad, slow music, really brings out the natural feel to it all, as if time really did stand still as the lovers were entranced by one another.
Luhrmann has also changed the language use quite a bit. Though he has indeed kept the same Shakespearean Old English, he has used less of it, only using the important statements that give a good, clear indication of what is happening and the emotion behind it.
Luhrmann has changed the old Elizabethan setting, and has modernised it a great deal (not so much the party, but the film in general). This was a good move, as it really brought the whole film to modern life, as it is now, and makes it more interesting for the more youthful audience.
The use of cast members was exceptional. However, Romeo and Juliet were said to be about 17 and 13 respectively in the original play, and getting Leonardo di Caprio, who was 21 years old at the time, and Claire Danes, who was 16 at the time, I felt did not do any justice to the initial play set by Shakespeare, as they were older than their characters.
However, choosing actors who would have been Romeo and Juliet’s ages would potentially not have given the film as much emotion to it, and di Caprio and Danes certainly made it very realistic.
Overall, I believe the Baz Luhrmann film version of Romeo and Juliet brings Act 1 Scene 5 to life very well. As I have the whole film at home, I hope the written Shakespearean play script is just as good as Luhrmann’s film version, as it really brings to life the whole play to life, and not just this small section alone. This time, well done Luhrmann!
