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Romeo and Juliet directed by Baz Luhrmann
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Baz Luhrmann’s film Romeo + Juliet is a highly successful film as an appropriation of the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. The language and plot are similar to the play with only slight editing but it is set in a modern context with contemporary values and attitudes. These are relevant to modern viewers yet still focus on the same ideas that Shakespeare’s play conveyed to an Elizabethan audience. Luhrmann has successfully made use of music, costuming, visual imagery and a mix of genres to shape our perception of themes, setting and characters. Elements are appropriated so that the film will entertain and be understood by today’s society. The language and plot of the film is very similar to Shakespeare’s original play. Shakespeare’s language has been retained but sections have been edited out and scenes altered. However this does not limit our understanding as ideas have been replaced by images, which may in fact communicate a clearer meaning. The narrative style focuses not on the text, but on the visual and audio elements that contemporary audiences are familiar with. An example is in the opening scene of the film, when the prologue is shown. In addition to having it read aloud by the newsreader, Luhrmann includes in a montage of clips such as helicopters over the city, violence in the streets and the Capulet vault as a visual representation of the prologue. In doing this Luhrmann acknowledges Shakespeare’s idea of the Prologue being a story within a story and its importance in the play. For a modern audience, the Prologue is much easier to understand when presented in a visual manner. Music also plays an important role in establishing the mood and atmosphere of the film. The music during the montage is powerful and dramatic and is continued at relevant times during the film for this purpose, such as after the conflict at the petrol station. Music can also reveal aspects of character, for example the gentle, romantic music when Romeo first appears. Compared to Shakespeare’s audience, music plays a prominent role in today’s entertainment and Luhrmann successfully uses this to convey ideas. The plot for the ending of the film has been changed slightly and the language changed in terms of the timings of the lovers’ deaths. The death of Paris and arrest of the Friar in the play have been cut and replaced by an emotional scene between the lovers. Juliet’s most courageous speech, where she contemplates waking up amongst the corpses, is also cut. However filmic techniques such as close-ups of Juliet’s fingers trembling and the fluttering of her eyelashes are an effective visual equivalent for what is edited out, as well as adding tension to the final scene for the modern viewers.
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