Romeo and Juliet
The 1996 Luhrmann version of Romeo and Juliet is unusual because it takes place in modern times compared to the original play four centuries earlier. "The location of the movie was Mexico City; from Churubusco Studios to the badlands of Texcoco to the city's famed Chapultapec Castle" (Thomas). All of these become the setting of Verona Beach, a sexy present-day world ruled by the two feuding families. The film captures many aspects of the '90s, from fast-driven cars to Hawaiian-style shirts and quick-flinging guns instead of swords. The most surprising thing about the movie is that the original language of the play has been kept. The character's names are all the same and the plot hasn't changed but what has changed is the style. The film starts out with a fast changing montage of images, often blurred. It has a good pace and keeps the audience in suspense. Instead of mundane colors appearing in the film, bright, bold, vivid images roll across the screen. An alternative rock soundtrack chopped scenes and unusual camera angles adds a stylish new Shakespeare. "Luhrmann wanted to avoid a stagy version of the classic play so he decided to cast young Americans for the roles of Romeo and Juliet and for the opposing Capulet and Mon
Secondly, themes continue to have a strong role in Romeo and Juliet. The most notable are the themes of love and fate. The play develops the theme of love through contrast. On one hand, there is Romeo's infatuation with Rosaline and the arranged marriage of Paris and Juliet. On the other is the "pure" or true love of Romeo and Juliet. The play shows this primarily through their actions and their romantic speeches to one another. The movie develops the theme of love in the same way, but with the additional twist of incest (Tybalt and Lady Capulet) and homosexuality (Mercutio). The theme of fate almost disappears, however. The play shows many premonitions of tragedy to Romeo, Juliet, and the Friar. There are also the events beyond their control, such as the feud between the families, Mercutio's death, and Lord Capulet consenting to Paris' marriage to Juliet. Shakespeare makes the plot of the play depend crucially on messages. He creates the scene in which Romeo, Benvolio, and Mercutio learn by accident from Capulet's illiterate servant of the proposed ball. Later, the Nurse brings Juliet the happy reply (2.5) from Romeo. In the second, tragic, movement of the play, the Nurse brings Juliet the news of Tybalt's death and Romeo's banishment. Shakespeare stresses the ease with which messages can go wrong; so Juliet at first thinks it is Romeo, not Tybalt, who has been slain. In the closing movement of the play, Balthasar brings Romeo the false report of Juliet's death (5.1). Then, immediately afterwards, as Romeo leaves the stage by one door, bearing a phial of poison, Friar John enters by another to begin the next scene by telling Friar Laurence how he failed to get through with the message to Romeo that Juliet is drugged, not dead. (5.2). In the movie, Romeo fails to notice the Federal Express receipt for the Friar's letter. Near the end, when Romeo is grieving near Juliet, he does not realize that Juliet is faintly breathing and still warm. Therefore, it's no longer events beyond their control, but their oversight of small details that develop into a major tragedy. Finally, although Luhrmann ends up cutting almost a third of the original text for the movie and does not depict some scenes from the play, he preserves the essentials of the plot. He cut out much of the text due to time constraints and to maint
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Approximate Word count = 1576
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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