Romeo and Juliet

There are various techniques used in both the Romeo and Juliet films. Both Baz Luhrmann and Franco Zeffirelli use there skills and knowledge to recreate Shakespeare’s version of Romeo and Juliet. Both films use different styles, settings, character choice and colour. I will give you my opinion on how both film makers use different techniques and styles through out each film. ACT 3 SCENE 1, “THE FIGHT SCENE” in particular.

Baz Luhrmann recreated Shakespeare's version of Romeo and Juliet, in 1996. Luhrmann used his knowledge of Romeo and Juliet and aim the film at the young teens. He did this to show these young teens that Shakespeare is not bad and hard, it’s just how it’s shown.

As I watched the film I found that from hating Shakespeare I started to understand and like it, through Baz Luhrmann’s film of Romeo and Juliet. Luhrmann used many styles and techniques, one he set the film out into a funny, action film that would appeal to his targeted audience of young teens.

Luhrmann used colour and backgrounds very well in his film, as he kept it to the theme of Romeo and Juliet but he modernised it. He was both loved and hated for this reason. Some hated him because they thought he wrecked the story and some loved him for it as they could under stand and relate to it better.

Luhrmann also choose perfect characters to play each roll in the film, so by doing this it effectively out laid the story.

Baz Luhrmann also emphasised some scenes like, “where Romeo kills Tybalt, under a holy statue”.

Luhrmann also keeps some parts pretty much the same as Franco zeffirelli. A good example of this is where Mercutio is stabbed by Tybalt and Mercutio says “a scratch, scratch”, when he is really about to die and says “a plague o’ both your houses.

Franco Zeffirelli chooses to keep the story, setting and time as Shakespeare set it out in.

In the fight scene (ACT 3 SCENE 1). Zeffirelli shows some similarities and a few differences from what Luhrmann did in his film.

In Zeffirelli’s film the fight between Mercutio and Tybalt is much longer then Luhrmann’s and Tybalt is not as serious in Zeffirelli’s as Luhrmann’s film.

Through the fight scene Zeffirelli chooses to make the fight drag out more then Luhrmann’s, and in Zeffirelli’s fight scene there are twenty plus people around watching the fight unlike Luhrmann’s where there is only four to eight people. There are also similarities in both fight scenes as Mercutio dies on top of some stairs.