The Luhrman prologue starts with a TV reporter reading out The Prologue. This automatically gives the film a modern reality and the people in it seem more real and close to us. The way in which the newsreader is dressed, her voice and the businesslike intonation of her speech make this scene look like just another typical news headline. Also this makes the feud look very serious since it is on the news. Even though she is speaking in early modern English, it sounds very common and understandable. In the corner of the TV screen, next to the newsreader there is a picture of a cracked ring with the words ‘star-crossed lovers’ written underneath. This looks as if Romeo and Juliet’s love was destroyed by fate, again showing us the two main themes in the play.
The TV starts off very small in the middle of a black screen while the newsreader is talking and slowly the camera zooms in till it is nearly covering the whole screen, as if drawing the audience into the story. Then the camera zooms into the TV and flashes up a few bird’s eye view shots of Rio and then the words ‘In Fair Verona’ appear in white on a black background. The black and white emphasise the contrast between good and bad. The fact that the shots flash quickly on screen prepares the audience for a fast development of the plot. The shots are being compared to modern life with its instability and confusion, furthermore it can be related with the speed of the relationship and marriage between Romeo and Juliet.
The Zeffirelli prologue starts leisurely and calmly with the camera panning across the city. It makes me think that, in his interpretation of the play, life back in the Shakespearian days was unhurried and slow.
After the bird’s eye view shots, Luhrman introduced the theme of religion. The camera whizzes into the city and we see two skyscrapers with a statue of Jesus in between. The buildings are both alike but one belongs to the Montagues and the other to the Capulets. The fact that they are so similar shows that they are ‘alike in dignity’. Also the buildings could represent that the two families own big businesses that are in competition. This brings the story to the modern world. The statue of Jesus in between looks like it is trying to keep the families from fighting. It is as if Jesus who is so pure and innocent is stuck between rivalry and hate. Again this emphasises the themes of religion, hate and rivalry. It also shows the contrast between good and evil, which is everywhere is the play. Zeffirelli presents religion in his prologue in a more subtle way. As the camera is panning across, we can see a church steeple through the fog. The fog could represent the hate between Romeo and Juliet’s parents, surrounding the good and innocent steeple, which we can think of as Romeo and Juliet themselves, trying to live their lives against the strangling anger and loathing.
As we see more and more of the Luhrman prologue we start to realize just how serious the feud between the families is and the whole city is dragged into their rivalry. We see scenes of crime and violence, involving a lot of police and all this hostility revolves around the two families. We hear police sirens, helicopter noises and right at the end a gunshot, making everything look and sound hectic and also modern. We are constantly seeing Juliet’s father straight after Romeo’s father, the same goes for their mothers, their cars, their houses and so on. I think that by doing this Luhrman is making us involuntarily compare the two families and see just how alike they are in everything; this consequently means that Romeo and Juliet’s upbringing is exactly the same. Maybe this is why they get along so well and understand each other perfectly. Also this helps us follow who is who, fulfilling the traditional role of a prologue.
If we look at the early version we can see the opposite point of view. We see land being divided by a river, here the two riverbanks could be the Montagues and the Capulets and the river is the symbol of everything that divides them. The river is quite wide meaning there are many differences between them. There is only one bridge across the river, only one connection between the families, and this is Romeo and Juliet’s love.
The shots in the Luhrman version are ordered in a specific way; when the lines of The Prologue are said, we see newspapers with the headlines of the main words on the screen. This again emphasizes the importance of what is going on, but it also makes the audience concentrate on what is being said more so they take it in better. Also the main words of The Prologue flash really quickly on the screen in the order that they were said before. This again creates a chaotic feeling and also makes the audience try to read what it says but failing because the shots flash past too fast. At the beginning, the shots are quite slow but by the end they speed up, building up the tension and the anticipation making the audience await in awe for the development of the plot.
Zeffirelli does not use shot editing as much. It is used when the man reading the prologue says: “… a pair of star-crossed lovers take their life.” Here the words Romeo and Juliet appear making it obvious who the lovers are. This does not create any kind of mystery or anticipation in the audience. It just presents the title of the film. However when the characters are shown in the Luhrman version everyone is introduced except Romeo and Juliet. Also the people that are being introduced are all related back to Romeo and Juliet, making the audience want to know who these two people are, however they are not shown in the prologue at all.
Also when Romeo and Juliet’s fathers and mothers are introduced, in the Luhrman prologue, they are seen in the dark. However when Paris and Mercutio are introduced there is light in the background making it seem as if they are the good stuck between the bad, this is later shown as Mercutio dies because of the rivalry between the families.
The Zeffirelli version uses lighting in a different way. The Prologue starts as if at dawn because the sun seems very small in the sky but then the camera zooms in to in and the sun gets bigger. This shows that it is the beginning of a new day thus the beginning of a new story. This creates a mood of anticipation and the awaiting of something good and meaningful to happen. The fact that both sides of the river are lit in the same fashion shows that the two families are the same and don’t have any dark secrets as opposed to the Luhrman version where the families seem to be involved in criminal activities, due to the light they are under.
The voice-over in both of the prologues is quite similar, but they do have some differences. The Luhrman prologue is read by Friar Lawrence again tying in the theme of religion. The Zeffirelli prologue is read by an anonymous man. They both sound solemn and serious, which in the Luhrman version creates a contrast between the slow words and the fast shots. However they difference is that the way in which the Friar says the words is very emotional and with emphasis on every word and it sounds like he is in the story himself. Whereas the man who reads the Zeffirelli prologue has the intonation of a narrator who just stands at the side watching what goes on around him not really participating in the story. His voice is wistful like a storyteller’s.
The music in the Zeffirelli version is peaceful, traditional and has a medieval sound to it. This fits in perfectly with the traditional setting of the play. The medieval melody makes you travel back in your mind to the medieval times and imagine what it was like, what kind of people lived back then and what kind of things happened to them. However the music in the Luhrman version is exactly the opposite: it is very dramatic, operatic and fast, which also perfectly fits in with the fast shots in the prologue. We as a modern audience have seen many up to date films and we know that if the music in a prologue is hectic, chaotic and nerve wrenching that the film will be like that in itself and we realize that it is probably going to end badly. By 1995 the story of Romeo and Juliet was so well known that everybody knew the ending. So Luhrman doesn’t try to deceive us from the beginning by giving us a falsely hopeful mood of the prologue. The music prepares the audience for a tragedy.
I found the Luhrman version the most effective and I think this is mostly because I am used to films that have lots and lots of special, visual and sound effects. However it is also effective because Luhrman managed to bring it into the real world really well without changing much of the plot at all. Even though he used lots of special effects and computer technology he was still able to put across the initial feeling of young and desperate love.
I also feel that since I am used to modern films I can’t judge objectively the Zeffirelli version because I simply find it boring. However I think this version was still successful at the time it was made. I think that this version is a traditional and time-honoured screening of a classic play bringing the audience the very soul and feeling of the era.
Written by: Inna Goman
