This essay will explain film director Baz Luhrmann's interpretation of William Shakespeare's
"Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona (where we lay our scene)
From ancient grudge break new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-crossed lovers take their lives"
This essay will explain film director Baz Luhrmann's interpretation of William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet". The film was made in 1996 and set in a modern city such as Los Angeles or Rio de Janeiro.
In the film, Luhrmann has made many changes to it, but while still keeping it's historical content, for example in the original Shakespearean play, knives are used whereas in this film reproduction, guns are used. Baz Luhrmann has modernized the film in the way that modern audiences can understand and relate to it such as the use of cars and helicopters.
This particular essay will be focusing on four main parts - The Prologue, The Fight Scene, Baz Luhrmann's Portrayal Of the Characters and my own opinions and the conclusion.
In the Prologue, at the very beginning, a short summery is introduced in the form of a black women reading the news. The camera has quite an old television set in the center of the screen with a black background surrounding it. This can show some form of anachronism because it shows a modern television set with a women reading the "news" which is actually the prologue in old English. As the Prologue begins, the television set slowly zooms in to the screen. This can give you a reaction of being sucked in to the television and ready to watch the film; I feel it entices you.
On the top right hand corner of the news screen, Luhrmann has chosen to put a ring which is broken in half. This can symbolise "Romeo and Juliet's" broken love as they were star-crossed lovers caught in the middle of a terrible tradegy.
The music that is played for the short duration of the Prologue is very hellish and it begins so suddenly, it shocks you. It comes from Mozart's Don Giovanni and reminds us of hell as the music has very loud instruments such as drums which create a feeling of panic, shock and fear of what is in for these characters such as the fear of continual warfare. It also gives the impression of angels shrieking because they are being rejected from heaven, and being sent down to hell, it is extremely effective on the human mind as it makes you think of many hellish things. The whole music in the Prologue is as though it is a judgement from God, by all the chaos and terror that we see these tow families - the Montague's and the Capulet's have caused. By using this music it is as though Luhrmann is mocking us by saying "this is my film, and i'll show you how clever I am!". Also, near to the end of the Prologe, there is a small boy singing, but along with the music, it seems as though he is screaming because he is being hurt or injured in some way.
It looks as though it is being filmed live because of it's quick erratic and shaking shots from the helicopter. This gives the impression that it is like live news coverage of a terrible disaster as Luhrmann has made it looke rough, but on purpose. He has made it look like it's fast and vigorous by ensuring that no editing has been changed to "correct" it to make it look neat. This is the oppisite of Luhrmann's aim. The helicopters give a birds eye view of the city showing the mass destruction which the families rivalries and bitterness ...
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It looks as though it is being filmed live because of it's quick erratic and shaking shots from the helicopter. This gives the impression that it is like live news coverage of a terrible disaster as Luhrmann has made it looke rough, but on purpose. He has made it look like it's fast and vigorous by ensuring that no editing has been changed to "correct" it to make it look neat. This is the oppisite of Luhrmann's aim. The helicopters give a birds eye view of the city showing the mass destruction which the families rivalries and bitterness towards each other have caused, as if the chaos is too big to show on a ground levelled camera shot, and in order to see the whole of it, you must have a birds eye view.
There is no exact setting of the Prologue as it is just an intoroduction or "trailor" of the film, but you can see from it that it will be an exciting one. When you see the angry and upset expressions on people's faces, or the police force, trying to calm the situation down or the flashing pictures of the statue of Jesus, you just feel taken back by the whole situation. Luhrmann has produced a very effective Prolouge, especially when the statue of Jesus or a holy figure is shown, he adds clips of it every so often so that it reminds you of how "holy" these two families are, but with all the fighting and violence, in actual fact, they are not holy at all.
The whole feel of the Prolouge is very fast paced and quite frightening because of this. There are quick of the camera where they show Verona Beach and introduce a "Turn, Look surprised/scared, Stop and Freeze" way, which is very much like many typical made-for-television American shows. This actually comes across as being slightly ridiculed, humored and cheap. At random points in the Prologue, Luhrmann has added still shots of newspapers and magazines, showing the Capulet's and Montegue's as front page headlines, which suggest the influencial and rich sides of these two families.
In the fight scene, Luhrmann suggests violence and emotion through out the fight, but without showing too much of the "gory details" by ensuring that along with the characters emotions, he concentrates on other things such as the adrenaline rush music or the weapons that the characters are holding or the sudden hurricane winds that appear as soon as disaster has struck.
When the characters are fighting, they convey different attitudes towards the situation, for example, Tybalt is very serious about the immediate circumstances, Mercutio is quite light hearted about it and mocks it, Benvolio acts with fear. As the two men - Mercutio and Tybalt meet each other, there is a sudden sense of growing nervousness and anger between them as though things will become far too dangerous to stop because of the fear and tension they are experiencing. I think Luhrmann has created this fear for the audience to relate to, and so that them themselves can feel it, as along with the music, it gives this kind of anxiety filled feeling of wanting to know what is about to happen to these characters. It's as if Baz Luhrmann has wanted us to care for the good characters and have remorse and feelings for them.
As Romeo arrives on the scene, he creates tension as everyone knows it has been Romeo himself who Tybalt has been waiting for to fight, at this point everyone, including the audience have a gut feeling that something is about to go terribly wrong for one of the "good" characters. The music played with Romeo is an orchestra of violins, and as he becomes nearer to Tybalt, the tension of the surrounding area becomes greater when the music from the violins become louder. We get the impression of Tybalts malignity when, whenever Romeo tries to be consiliatry towards Tybalt, the music slowly builds.
The setting of the scene is on the shores of Verona Beach where there is an old theatre which is broken in half, this reminds us of the original play. Also, Luhrmann might be trying to challenge the fact that the old theatrical context of the play on a stage is over and now, films have been introduced, there not going to be plays in theatre's anymore with people watching it live, but pre-recorded films where mistakes are edited out. It shows a whole new form of entertainment, through cimenatic experiences.
Also, by putting the stage in the scene where the fight is happening, Luhrmann might be trying to illustrate that the whole of these two families lives is on a stage, where audiences watch what is going to and about to happen.
When the actual physical fight scene is on between mainly Mercutio and Tybalt, lots of sound effects have been added such as the sounds of kicks and punches. During this scene, the music becomes, once again very racy, to suggest the anger but also fear the characters are feeling. When Mercutio is stabbed by Tybalt, a sudden sense of shock comes across all the characters as though they did not expect it to happen so early in the situation - for the characters - and film - for the audiences. After Mercutio is stabbed, he still tries to be is usual witty self by saying "ay, ay a scratch, a scratch", mocking the fact that he has just been stabbed, when really, on the inside, he is actually hurting from the pain of the stab wound. At this point, Mercutio is very resentful of what has happene to him, so he shouts "a plague on both your houses!". Luhmann has emphasised on this line by making Mercutio's voice echo as if he himself were God, at this point, a loud thunder strikes followed by lightening and a strong gust of wind. The music becomes powerful again and there is a gut feeling of fear in the overall audience. But, when Mercutio is stabbed, there is no specific fuss or drama because Luhrmann then goes on to focussing on Tybalt's guilt and fear of what he's going to have to face as the penalty for another muder by the Montegue's or Capulet's is death!
Due to Romeo's anger, as he sees Tybalt run away, Romeo decides to chase him in his car, with rage. At this moment, there is huge musical drama because of the beat of drums like a death march as the on lookers watch.
While this is happening, Juliet is at home, thinking of how wonderful and how in love with Romeo she is. But (in my opinion) Luhrmann has done a clever job of crossing the film shots, one minute of Romeo's erratic driving, then the next minute of Juliet's angelic face thinking of how wonderful Romeo is.
While Romeo is driving, the music is very loud and fast paced because of his reckless driving, especially when you hear the sounds of the cars crashing and breaking. As he shoots Tybalt, his eyes are watering which shows signs of weakness, remorse and anger all at the same time, it shows his feelings of mixed emotions. Once Tybalt has fallen in the water thunder strikes reflecting the mood and shock of what Romeo has just done.
Now, the drama and tension and drama is very high because of the remorse Romeo is going through and the penalty he must face for the murder of Tybalt.
Baz Luhrmann portrays the characters in many different ways.
He portrays Romeo as a depressed and very mis-lead character. He is always dressed in smart suits, but with a rough look such as no tie or buttons undone on his shirt. This can give an impression of anxiety with the suit - as though he is "dressed to impress", but let down with his roughness - as though he is not wanted or loved by a girl. His way of speaking is very soft and smooth, but at the same time, hurtfull and sad. When Romeo appears on screen, the music becomes very slow, passionate. This gives the effect of Romeo being a hurt and I would say fearfull actor. Romeo is more of a lover than a fighter. I think Luhrmann chose Leonardo Di Caprio to be Romeo because he is a gentle and good actor, this is Romeo.
When it comes to Juliet, Luhrmann portrays her as an innocent and pure character. She is always dressed in a plain white gown or night-dress which suggests purity and gullibility in her. Juliet's facial expressions also lead us to believe that she too is in need of love. Even her way of speaking is very naive and innocent, even though she does actually know what she is talking about. Juliet grows up a lot during the course of the film. She is portrayed as a star-struck lover in the early scenes. She acts a little silly and reckless about Romeo. Though rebelling a little against her parents she is also shown as respectful and nervous of what they might do if they find out about her love for Romeo. She is also shown as an innocent and honest but overall pubecent. I think Luhrmann chose Claire Danes to be Juliet because she portrays almost every characteristic that Shakespeare intended her to be.
Both Romeo and Juliet's parents are portryaed as the "mafia" type family, especially the fathers of the two families as they both act and react with a great grudge against each other. Juliet's parents are seen as very tawdry. Her father chases young women and her mother chases young men! For example, at the Capulet's party, they are dressed in very "noticable" clothing. The mother comes across as loud and self-important. She seems to be overly made-up and comes across as though she is lacking something, as she is not able to communicate with her daughter. On the other hand, Romeo's parents drive in a big car all the time and dressed in well tailored clothes. They too act as though they do not care for their child, Romeo, as when he was heartbroken, they knew he was, but did not know what to do about it or how to react with him.
Baz Luhrmann portrays the nurse, Juliet's carer/nanny, as a humourous, comical character with an exaggerated but yet funny Spanish accent, she is plump and ugly too! Even though she comes across as crued and tasteless, she is still a wam, kind hearted and understanding person towards Juliet.
Tybalt (a Montegue) is portrayed as a self-admiring, narcissistic, stubborn and arrogant "cowboy" type of a character. His style of clothing is very westernised. His face looks very comical as his facial features stand out, like his perfectly cut and groomed moustache, and his ridiculously slicked-back hair, which is gelled flat. He thinks his appearance is very slick and stylish, but it is quite the opposite.s He speaks in a quick cowboyish style of speaking. This matches the music that is played with him. All this gives an effect which is un-known to the characters of slapstick comedy. It is very ironic how he acts and poses as he acts as though is is very macho, but really on the inside, he is scared of fighting!
Luhrmann portrays Mercutio (Romeo's best friend) as a fast talking, witty character. His costume is pretty laid back or casual. He is also seen as a cross-dresser because of his humourous costume at the Capulet's. He is also a drug addict and is quite mad! His random shooting in the sea may suggest a mental illness or depression.
In my opinion, the prolouge is very messy and quite disastrous, but this cames across as a good thing because it shows the mess, disaster and destruction the families have caused.
I enjoyed the way Baz Luhrmann has included an audience in the key scenes such as the Fight Scene because it is as though he has captured our feelings and put them in the surrounding cowd so that we can relate with them.