The Old vs. The New Romeo and Juliet Movies

A detailed Summary of The Old vs. The New Romeo and Juliet Movies

Out with the Old and in With the New

The success of both the traditional and modern movie versions of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet are dictated by their settings. The traditional version of this legendary love story was filmed in 1968 and is set in the 1600's, placing the characters in the time period from which the story was derived. The more modern movie version on the other hand, filmed in 1996, places the characters in the time period of when the movie was filmed rather than when it was written. Since the two films share much of the same dialogue the different time tables upon which the films are built impacts their fruition. Because they are so synonymous with the age they represent the setting, music, costumes, and acting of the two films can be seen as the four legs of the two tables of time. Being of the century from which the latter of the two films was produced serves as a to bias viewers who may have trouble relating to the various elements of the outdated traditional film.

The settings of both the current and conventional movie versions of Romeo and Juliet are similar to and different from one another. Both films take place in large urban areas, and the tone of both films is set by the tension between the M

Perhaps the most influential variation of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet in the two films is the acting. The original film is dedicated to the emulation of the 17th century in dress, musing, setting, and most of acting. The cast members do everything they can to act as those of the 17th century would, and they do so successfully. But the language itself is hard enough to understand without having the story distanced even more by centuries old mannerisms acted out by the older film actors. In the modern version on the other hand, the actors speak in familiar tones, and put emphasis on certain words that may not be emphasized in the original. In the two films the same scenes are acted out in two totally different manners, as our century is to the 17th, totally different. This goes to show how dead scripts can be brought to life by the actors, its almost like reading instead of watching an episode of Seinfeld, many intended affects may go right over one's head. The modern movie prevents this missing of certain points by bridging the gap between Shakespeare's language and our time with the use of excellent modern acting.

Both the traditional and the modern movie versions of Romeo and Juliet are accurate representations of Shakespeare's writings. The setting, acting, music, and costume in the films however are very different from one another. The original film is performed, conceivably, exactly as it would have been when Shakespeare wrote the story. What the modern ver

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Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English