Romeo and Juliet

             Romeo & Juliet, was directed by Franco Zeffirelli, stars Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting and is based on the 1597 play by William Shakespeare. A pair of two star crossed lovers fights for their love of each other, but both families are always up against each other: The Montagues (Romeo's family) and The Capulets (Juliet's family). Fate also causes them suicide in despair.

              The film starts in Verona, Italy where a street brawl between servants of the two families begins. The Prince of Verona stops the brawl and says any disturbance of peace will be punished by death. We then are introduced to Capulet after having discussions with Paris about marrying his daughter but Capulet says to wait and attend the ball that is coming up. The ball happens and that’s where Romeo and Juliet first meet each other and fall in love in a kind of love at first sight. They then start to form a romantic relationship with each other and secretly get married by Friar Laurence who hopes that the turmoil will stop. Later though, Mercutio is killed by Tybolt and Tybolt is killed by Romeo. Romeo then vanishes from Verona and Juliet is scheduled to marry Paris. With the help of Friar Laurence, he offers her a potion to put her in a coma or catalepsy. He sends a messenger to inform Romeo but Romeo instead hears about it from his servant and just misses the letter. He goes and finds her and drinks the potion and dies, then she wakes up and realizes he took it and takes his sword and turns it on herself to die along with him.

               As most critics have said and mentioned, this film is a true adaptation to the original Shakespeare play throughout. The first thing is the setting of the film takes place in Verona, Italy during the 14th or 15th Century. Noticeable is the city and buildings when the film opens and you see a city filled with people in the foreground. The setting makes it look very realistic that we are set back in time to The Renaissance Era. You look at the buildings of the Capulets’ home that is a representation of wealth and power showing extravagant decor and hosting parties. The town is a representation of typical towns in 15th century Europe which are symmetrical and proportional. The buildings in the film are similar to buildings from that era like buildings you see today that are still around like St. Peter’s Basilica, The Vatican and numerous cathedrals and churches. What makes the film unique too is the actors are all European which makes it authentic and unique, plus the filming takes place throughout Italy and they tend to exaggerate a lot. The costumes that the characters wear too are a representation and almost look exactly like early paintings and art of how the characters may have dressed and look. Looking at the clothes that the Montagues and Capulets wear like Tybolt, the outfit definitely has me envisioning how they dressed during the era. Music also is a major part in this film as not just the mood but also for introducing our main characters. 

                 When we are first introduced to our main characters, they each have their own music and theme. Romeo we first see in the distance as a well-dressed young man walking toward the camera in a wide shot. The music for him is very low pitch, almost soothing and very much a soft tone like you would hear in love songs, and a bit of romance type themes are played too. It reminds me of the romantic songs that male singers play when talking about a woman they love or their romantic lives. Juliet's introduction music is opposite from Romeo’s. Hers is more cheery, happy and uplifting as is typical for a fourteen year old female character. You would typically expect a theme like this in films like The Notebook (Cassavettes, 2004), The Virgin Suicides (S. Coppola, 1999) and Midnight Sun (Speer, 2018). A scene that definitely sets the mood for the characters meeting for the first time is the ballroom scene. The tone is set to a soothing love theme which sets the mood up for the love at first sight feeling of the two characters meeting for the first time. The song “What is a Youth” really sets the mood for the rest of the film, not just for the meetup, but it foreshadows the rest of the film. The film was then re-envisioned again in 1996 starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes.

                  The 1996 version directed by Baz Luhrmann definitely has some very suitable similarities but major differences. The first thing is the film is very fast paced. Even the dialogue and language is spoken really quickly compared to the ‘68 version. Although if you have seen the director's other works (Moulin Rouge, Elvis & Strictly Ballroom) that is his style in terms of pacing, jump cuts and quick transitions. The similarities though with this is the characters do talk in the Old English dialogue and accent throughout the film, the actors seem as though they are pressured into talking like this or make it like a struggle which thus makes it almost unrealistic. The main message and authenticity of the play is there, just mixed in with modern day society, culture and the world. Examples are instead of using swords, the characters use guns (at the beginning it does freeze to show the gun which says Sword 9mm Series S), there is no longer a prince of this modern day city of Verona, instead the chief of police is considered the “prince” or peacemaker of the city. The setting takes place in 1996, both families have high tech and security that you would see today like armed police guards, cameras and cars, and even the costumes are what we see people wearing in typical society. You can say this film is not a fully true adaptation to the original play but the meaning, message and themes are still in this film. Like most of William Shakespeare's work though, the common tropes in his plays are death, destruction and love.

                   Death is definitely in Romeo and Juliet. Two lovers fight to the death for each other’s love and would go as far as to die of suicide for each other. In MacBeth, he is killed by MacDuff. In Hamlet, The main character kills Ophelius. These are just a few of his plays that show that all his plays reference death. Destruction is shown between the two families, the Montagues and the Capulets, and even when Mercutio dies his last words were, “Death will be upon both houses,” which thus foreshadows Romeo and Juliet's deaths. In Julius Caesar, the main character started civil wars, seized power and changed the rules of Rome, thus causing destruction which comes back to him when he is killed by Brutus. Love is portrayed in numerous plays including Midnight Summers Dream when four lovers, especially the characters Lysander and Hermia fall in love, breakup, then come back again. The film adaptation of Shakespeare's plays really exaggerates his themes and meanings.

                     Personally, I have seen other Shakespeare adaptations of Hamlet (Olivier, 1948); Julius Caesar (Mankiewicz, 1953); MacBeth (Polanski, 1971); and Antony & Cleopatra (Heston, 1972).  Also, as most people in high school, I have read numerous of his plays and works in English classes. I do have an appreciation for William Shakespeare. He is a great author especially for a person who has struggled with and is not big into literature but visually watching his work through films definitely is an awesome way for me to comprehend his stuff even years after still visualizing certain acts, lines and plays. He deserves appreciation and recognition.

Works Cited

Luhrmann, Baz, Dir. William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet. 20th Century Fox., 1996

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Wray, Ramona. “Romeo and Juliet: Star-Crossed Spectacle.” The Criterion Collection, Criterion, 14 Feb. 2023, https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/8069-romeo-and-juliet-star-crossed-spectacle. 

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Zeffirelli, Franco, Dir. Romeo and Juliet. Paramount Pictures Corp., 1968