Comparing Zeffirelli's Romeo And Juliet

The elements the filmmakers choose to use in the film, i.e. the music, location, editing techniques and special effects, help tell the story. Zeffirelli uses his elements to ease the viewer from scene to scene, he is employing the Classical Hollywood Filmmaking technique. A smooth flowing pace, where the viewer does not notice the cuts, plus the music assists in the movements within the cuts. Nothing daring is done in his film, he stays true to the historical appearance of the film, uses ideas that have already been exhibited, such as period piece music and historical costumes. The world famous balcony scene (Act II, scene II) is an example, Zeffirelli employs the same blocking that Shakespeare probably intended. This is one of the few times, Zeffirelli interacts with the locations, and his locations is a town within walls, perceived to be a small town, the location is bare and not crowded.

Luhrmann’s variation of the film is more suited to a teenage audience than Zeffirelli’s due to the vibrant settings and modern sets utilised throughout the film. Several of these sets include the beach, high rise buildings and petrol stations. These factors are used to tempt a younger audience. Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet, however takes place in a medieval Italian city. Although the original play was based and performed in this location, teenage viewers cannot relate to the surroundings, hence making it difficult to understand or appreciate the plot.

The 1996 film, Romeo and Juliet, is Baz Luhrmann’s interpretation of William Shakespeare’s play by the same name. This film is part of Baz Luhrmann’s Red Curtain Trilogy where Luhrmann uses a theatre motif in each, with poetry and language being the motif used in Romeo and Juliet. This play was originally written by William Shakespeare who was an English poet, playwright, actor and a man who is considered one of the greatest contributors to English literature as he invented over 1700 now common words and wrote some of the world’s most famous plays. Romeo and Juliet was written in 1595 so Luhrmann had to give the film a contemporary twist but keeps the original themes of forbidden love and young romance to appeal to a modern audience. In the

Zeffirelli was closer to the book. Would you like someone changing your thoughts. Yes, Romeo and Juliet is about love, and it can happen anywhere. The Luhrmann version changes everything,including the plot. In the future producers should try to make it closer to the book. It is important to keep in mind that there’s a book and plot to

One such scene was the infamous balcony scene. Zeferelli stuck to the classical interpretation, while Luhrmann did not. In Zeferelli’s version Juliet was on the balcony outside her bedroom calling rhetorically, "Romeo, Romeo where fore art thou Romeo?" Romeo appears and climbs up the balcony, and they share a couple of small kisses before he departs. However, in Luhrmanns version of the play, events occurred slightly differently. Juliet is walking by the pool, when Romeo startles her and they both fall in the pool. Their conversation then takes place in the pool. In between getting interrupted by a nosy security guard they share several passionate kisses.

Luhrman has based his version at Verona Beach; America and instead of basing it in the 16th century like Zeffirelli, he had his film based in the 20th century, with mansions, shiny cars and bright lights. While Zeffirelli paced his film in an Iambic pentameter – a traditional Shakespeare pace; Luhrman never kept his film at a solid pace. “By modernizing these aspects of the play, and reconstructing the prologue, Luhrmann creates a movie that is more interesting to the modern viewers.” ("Franco Zeffirelli and Baz Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet." 123HelpMe.com). As Zeffirelli may have believed famous actors would steal his show he instead hired fresh new faces to give the movie a more fresh, innocence value, But Luhrman used well known actors to play the lead roles. This worked because more people were attracted to the film by the actors.

The time period of the play and the time period of the movie are very different. In the movie, the prologue was on a T.V. screen and it was not in the play. Also in the movie, they used cars instead of horses to get around. In the movie, Romeo and his friends always smoked and would take drugs and they did not do that in the play. In the play, the different families owned castles and in the movie they own different businesses and buildings. They also had guns instead of swords in the movie. Also in the movie, they dressed more modern than they would have in the play.

In the different film adaptations of Romeo and Juliet, Franco Zefirelli best conveys an emotional impact through the set design, blocking, and other theatrical elements. Zefirelli also chooses to have the film in the fourteenth century so that Shakespeare’s diction is comprehensible. From this, Zeffirelli adaptation is best conveys the romantic impact Shakespeare intends to emphasize.

Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, is one of the most well-known stories of all time and perhaps the most famous play ever. As one might expect, the play has been made into a movie many times. The 1968 version directed by Franco Zeffirelli and the 1996 version directed by Baz Luhrmann are two of the most popular films. The older version attempts to create an authentic representation of the play, while the 1996 version places a modern twist on the story. At first glance, the movies are completely different, but upon a deeper look, there are several similarities between the two. This is best demonstrated in the balcony scene.

Zeffirelli 1968 film version shows the emotion of the film through the lighting, sound, and the camera shots. Zeffirelli 1968 version the lighting changes throughout the whole film. For example when Mercutio dies the lighting dims, and everyone gets very quiet to show the effect of the love and friendship they have for Mercutio. The sound both diegetic and nondiegetic Zeffirelli used is also very different from the play. He uses diegetic as another part of the scene when Mercutio dies. There is rain and thunder going on that shows the effect of how much pain this is going to put everyone through after his death. The rain is for the tears and the thunder represents the cries from the people of Verona. He uses non-diegetic when Romeo is confessing his true love for Juliet to Tybalt. The music is showing the care her has for her and how much he will do for her. The music play slow and soft. Zeffirelli 1996 version uses many of different camera shots also. He uses a close-up on the pistol Romeo used to kill Tybalt with. That shows the effect of the weapon that was used to kill the cousin of Juliet. Lastly, Zeffirelli uses a medium shot when the capulets arrive to show the fear that was going on in some of the Montague’s faces because they knew something bad was about to go

was the first film of Romeo and Juliet. It was produced in 1968 and it

The Zeffirelli production shows Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet in a unique way. The Zeffirelli production puts the play relevant to new contexts

The acting in Zeffirelli’s film is unrealistic and over exaggerated. The performances of the actors seem forced, with over use of facial expressions. When Romeo begins crying at the end of his dialogue, he does not sound natural, as though he is pretending. Furthermore, when he swallows the poison, his facial expressions seem strange and unnatural. Whereas in Luhrmann’s, the actors reveal more emotion in their depictions of Romeo and Juliet. The lack of long dialogue keeps the audience’s attention and makes the scene more realistic. Romeo’s expressions clearly convey his deep feelings of sorrow and grief as he approaches what he believes is his dead wife. His movements are soft and gentle, clearly showing the audience his love of Juliet and how saddened and grief-stricken he is of her death. The costumes are also used effectively in Luhrmann’s movie. Juliet is wearing her white wedding as well as her wedding ring. These items represent her innocence, fragility and purity. Romeo is wearing his Hawaiian Montague shirt, which highlights the separation between Romeo and Juliet that ultimately lead to this situation. Therefore, the representation and acting of the characters in Luhrmann’s film is more convincing and effective than in that of Zeffirelli’s

No one tells the story the same as the original. Over time people start to change stories to make them more interesting. Franco Zeffirelli 1968 version of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet sticks more to the original Shakespearean language and the simple set design also expressing love in more body language, Carlo Carlei 2013 version of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is more easily understood due to some language changes to make the film more modern also set design making it more interesting to watch and character movement showing true love.

Baz Luhrmann helped adapt the classic story of Romeo and Juliet in his 1996 adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, updating the setting to a post-modern city named Verona beach. In this adaptation, the Montagues and Capulets are two rival gangs. Juliet is attending a costume ball thrown by her parents, Fulgencio Capulet, and Gloria Capulet. Her father has arranged the marriage of Juliet and Paris, as a strategic investment plan. Romeo attends the ball, and meets Juliet. They immediately fell in love. The 1968 version of the film, directed by Italian director Franco Zeffirelli, is set in the Italian city of Verona, where the Montague and Capulet families are perpetually feuding. Romeo attends a ball thrown by the Capulets, where he meets and immediately falls in love with Juliet. After a brief courtship, the two fall in love, creating even greater tension between their families. Franco Zeffirelli’s film is considered one of the best screen versions of Shakespeare’s classic love story.