The movie opens immediately, with no opening credits of any kind. On screen is an old-fashioned TV with a blank and fuzzy screen. We hear clicks like someone pressing the buttons on a TV remote, and then a newsreader appears onscreen reading the prologue as though it were a news bulletin about the recent feuds between the Montagues and Capulets. This gives us a sense of immediacy – that the events she speaks about are happening now, and we are in Verona Beach witnessing them. The newsreader is a black woman, showing the modern concept of equal rights, but is also important to note a lot of the ‘passive’ characters in the film (those not directly involved in the feuding) are black – Mercutio and the Prince are two good examples. She is also dressed in red – a colour symbolising blood, death and passion, some of the themes around which the play centres. Also, by using the modern concepts of television and news bulletins, and by dressing the newsreader in modern clothes, the time frame of the film is set straight away.
As the bulletin ends, the camera comes closer and closer to the screen of the TV, eventually giving the effect that the audience are sucked into the screen, again adding to the feeling of immediacy and proximity to the action. The camera then rushes along a street, with the Montague building on one side and the Capulet building on the other. In the middle is a statue of Jesus. This theme is continued slightly later, when they show the two family trees, again with Montagues on one side, Capulets on the other and a picture of Jesus in the middle. This shows that religion is the one mutual aspect of the lives of the two families, and that Friar Lawrence is the link between them. Another important thing to note is that the two towers (Montague and Capulet) are of equal size, symbolizing the equal social status of the two families.
What follows is a montage of scenes from later in the film with Pete Postlethwaite (Friar Lawrence) reading the prologue over the top of it. Certain lines in the prologue are picked out, either in flashing words onscreen or in newspaper headlines that are shown. These emphasise the importance of these lines, and are also used for ironic effect. For example, when the words ‘In fair Verona’ are shown on screen, the shot is of a polluted industrial city. The music in the background throughout this is classical and dramatic, adding tension to the scenes, and the flashing words give a nightmarish quality to the whole scene.
Next, we are introduced to each character one by one onscreen. Luhrmann does this in a way that is commonly used in gangster films or ‘made-for-TV’ movies, by showing each character onscreen and then freezing the frame and imposing captions with the name of each character. This almost gives the impression that the film actually is a made for TV film in Verona, one based on the true story of Romeo and Juliet. The youth of Romeo and Juliet is emphasised in this, as their parents are introduced as ‘Capulet – Juliet’s father’, ‘Lady Capulet – Juliet’s mother’ and so on. This echoes earlier, when the family tree was shown and the pictures of Romeo and Juliet were of them as children. Also, neither Romeo nor Juliet is introduced, and this causes tension to build over the main protagonists.
This is followed by shots of many newspapers featuring lines from the prologue as headlines, which emphasises these lines, and then a montage, again featuring small clips from later in the movie: shootings and brawls, shots of the inside of a church, people screaming and crying, Romeo and Juliet kissing. Firstly this juxtaposes the two themes of religion and violence, and secondly it sums up in one scene all the major themes of the film in one scene, while simultaneously increasing tension and suspense by using rapidly flashing images and loud, dramatic music. This scene reaches a climax, and then fades through into the next scene and the start of the actual plot.
In conclusion, the opening of the film is very effective because it sums up the plot well without being boring or overlong. In fact, because of the many cinematic techniques Luhrmann uses, it is eye-catching and enjoyable to watch. It also sums up all the themes of the film in an efficient and concise means.
