Tybalt, in both the movies he is exposed as the mean, powerful, short tempered man, though in Baz’s version we see the all-great Tybalt enjoying himself with his dear old aunt Lady Capulet.
Lady C in the old version is seen as stern, cold hearted looking women, I know of this by just the expression that she gives of. Lady C in the modern version is seen as wild women who is seen kissing her own nephew, she is also seen being persuasive when she makes her daughter Juliet dance with Paris.
We see Juliet as a young pretty girl who dances gracefully in the old version.
I notice her afraid, when Romeo tries to kiss her hand she, she quickly retrieves her hand from him.
We also witness the look of a shock and upset when she founds out that Romeo is a Montague. Baz’s version Juliet looks a bit older, she is pretty and innocent, though she unlike the other Juliet had let Romeo kiss, and she wasn’t afraid or ashamed by committing this kiss. Juliet I noticed is not a girl who obeys her parents, when her mother and the nurse were calling for her she seems to ignore them and run inside the lift with Romeo.
Like Franco’s version this Juliet also is shocked to have discover that her beloved Romeo is a Montague.
Romeo in both movies is seen as a handsome young man who is bewitched by the beauty of Juliet, we hear him whisper words of live to her and his thought is clearly been heard by the audience. The only difference is that in the modern version Romeo is seen given a very long kiss to Juliet in the lift and Romeo is seen taken drugs that was given to him by his best friend Mercutio.
Mercutio is white and hardly appears on the screen in Franco Zefferelli’s version, although in Baz Lurhman we see a lot of Mercutio and it was very hard not to miss him wearing women clothing a white wig and he had stolen the show with his singing and dancing on the large staircase.
In both versions the nurse we see as an optimistic, cheerful and a glint of mischievous old lady.
Count Paris in the old version we see him as mid 40s looking man who has an air of arrogance and self-assurance, who looks very dull and bored. However in the modern version Paris is revealed to us as a young handsome man who looks lively and cheerful. This shows us how directors reveal a completely different attitude in the same characters.
The guest in both these film are completely the opposite, in Franco’s version the guest are polite, quite and they all acted like they were going to a funeral instead of a party, whilst in the modern version the guest were really partying, they all looked they were enjoying themselves and one of the guest makes a rude gesture with his tongue that no-one noticed or minded it.
The clothing’s in the old version was not what I had call costumes because the women’s were all wearing about exactly the same clothing, they had on a long flowing dress which had a nice vibrant colour unlike those of the men their clothing’s were dark. The men were wearing a mask, which was the only thing I liked, a pillbox hat and a tunic. This was pretty much what the men had on nothing that captured the audiences’ eyes.
Luhrmann uses the costumes to draw attention to this outstanding party. Lady Capulet is seen wearing a Cleopatra costume, as we all know Cleopatra is the Queen of Egypt. Cleopatra was a beautiful and disobedient forceful woman, much like lady C herself. Lord Capulet is Julius Caesar, one of the greatest leaders of the Roman Empire, and the perfect costume for a powerful tycoon. It is interesting to note that the similarities between these characters and their costumes. Tybalt's devil costume is also an obvious description of evilness. Both Satan and Tybalt are dangerous and not to be trusted, and it is Tybalt who later commits the act of murder. On a better note, the talkative Mercutio is seen dressed as a colorful drag queen. Count Paris wears an US astronaut, a classic example of American faith. But despite all these clever hints through costume, it is the two leading characters that are most suitably dressed. Romeo is the shining knight in Armour who has been sent to rescue Juliet, and Juliet is a bright angel, innocent and pure, who has been sent to relieve Romeo's confusion and misery. It could be seen that Juliet is Romeo's guardian angel, Romeo is her savior and they cannot survive without the love and guidance of each other.
In both these movies there were different type of camera shots used, like in the old movie Zefferelli he uses an establishing shot at the beginning of a scene telling us viewers where they are in this case we are shown guest arriving which means we are at the Capulet ball.
Zefferelli also uses a mid-shot a picture showing half of the subject like their face only or from the waist up he uses this camera shot on character such as Rosaline, Romeo, lord C and Tybalt. A total-shot is used when the singer begins to sing we see him standing in the center of the ballroom singing, I quite like this shoot because it makes me feel like am in the crowd watching him sing.
Zefferelli used a pan-shot to show us how the guest reaction and emotion to this love song which I though was just brilliant.
In the modern version I noticed that the camera shots are been focused on the two leading characters, however there was a close-up of mercutio and a total-shot of him dancing and singing on the grand staircase like the old version. The best camera shot, which Baz lurhman used, was when he had swiveled the camera around the room showing us that Romeo is drugged, I though this was fantastic because it had showed how you would feel and what you will see if you took a drugs.
There was a close-up of Romeo and Juliet looking through the fish tank, I like it when Baz uses a close –up shot because it shows us only one part of the subject, usually in great detail. He uses these shot more through out the play.
There aren’t a lot of props used in both these movies, in the old version they have torches, bells maracas for the dances floor and food and wine goblets.
These props indicate how very old this movie is. The modern props is what I prefer to use in my parties like the balloons and streamers they are fun to have make this party really good.
The mood is jolly and vibrant and is something that reminds me of the play itself. In the modern version the mood is completely different to those of Zeffereli’s version. The mood is wild, you see Tybalt kissing his aunt, Romeo on drugs, guest partying madly and Abram (Romeo’s friend) makes a rude gesture with his tongue. The mood in Baz`s version there are different kinds of moods, sinister, joyful and there is actually a calm mood.
Music, both movies use different tune to make this movie good, like the old version there is a flute used to perform different tunes. The flute will play lively and quickly when the guest dance in a circle. In the modern version the music is fast and technique. When Romeo has soaks himself in water, there is a muffled sound and through that we can hear the music change. The speed of the music changed dramatically and is a slow type of romantic sound that reflects the way that the two lovers meet.
The old version has no special effects, however the modern version has fire workers making this party really great.
The movie I liked had to baz lurhmans adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. He has obviously aimed the appeal towards a youth audience and, based on their positive reaction, his attempt was successful. I say this because I had found this movie really good. I liked the way baz got his character e.g. Romeo (Leonardo) speak in old language in a modern time.
The party was the best part of the movie I though it was geniuses of Baz to use costumes to give the audience hints what the characters represent.
