This aggressive action is also juxtaposed with comedy. A good example of this is where one of the Montagues is being repeatedly hit over the head by an old lady with a hand bag. Another comical point is when another Montague is scared and falls in the car when one of the Capulets shouts ‘Boo’. Comedy is important in the film especially in the opening to bring a bit of light heartedness to a tragedy. People need to know that there is comedy and action to change their expectation from what they might think would be a boring film.
The effects of all of these genres change your expectations from romantic tragedy to a film full of action excitement and comedy.
Sound is an important part of Lurhman’s Romeo and Juliet. Sound tracks are used to set the scene, to remind us of the mood of the film and to make a dramatic opening. At the very beginning after the first recital of the prologue there is a choir singing. This emphasizes the scale and sadness of the tragedy. This is because choir music is often related to churches, funerals and generally a more sombre mood Then when we change shots to the Montague boys in their car the music is very much more personalised to them. This is so that we are taken away from the more general theme of how these two families affect every one and put into the place of the Montague boys and what it does to them.
Music and silence is used to create tension in the opening scenes. In collaboration with lots of different shots used in the film such as; fast shot of the city, wipes, feet shots, Slow-mo, speeded up shots and eye shots. All of these reinforce the genres and help build up atmosphere.
There are also certain images such as Jesus, helicopters, police, fire, a broken ring and lots of crosses. The crosses and the Jesus remind you of how religious the families are. The other images bring you into the action of the film and again reinforce the genres. There is typical western music which brings across the idea of there being a gun fight.
When the cigarette is dropped there is silence. It really builds up tension because you know what’s going to happen.
The music also reinforces the genres. For example appropriate music and silences are always used to raise and build up the suspense of a particular scene in a western movie. This is also used in the start of the film therefore reinforcing the western genre. In a typical western movie there are close ups of eyes, spurs and horses. In this case before you see the characters face you see their feet such as when they get out of their car or out of the shop. As well as this detail there are also lots of shots of their ‘poker faced’ eyes. This accents a western movie heavily and builds up the suspense. In the film Tybalt wears metal heels which sound like spurs which were of course used to jab into a horse to make it go faster. Consequently the sound of the metal tends to be a symbol of aggression therefore suggesting Tybalt to be aggressive.
Big opening music is often used in action movies such as James Bond. This also present in Romeo and Juliet suggesting action to follow.
The whole effect of sound on the opening enhances and reinforces the genres and brings you into the action.
Text is also a big part of the opening. Repetition of certain words such as Montague and Capulet on large bill boards and high rise buildings reminds you of the conflict between the families.
There is also repetition of the prologue to get it into your head. The key phrases are emphasized. For example “Two houses both, alike in dignity” and “Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.” This gets the whole basic foundation in your mind. To illustrate the main focus of the story the text “A pair of star crossed lovers take their lives,” and, “which but their children’s end nought could remove” is flashed on the screen a few times. The overall effect of the text is to get in your mind the tragedy that will happen.
All of the above come together to change your expectations from what you think it would be like to an exciting action filled start, but despite this still keeps the passion and romance from the original.
