Romeo and Juliet

Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet, a modern film adaption of the tragedy ‘Romeo and Juliet’ by Shakespeare, is a decent interpretation of the original play, but not an excellent one. It satisfactorily provides a fresh perspective on the original play and is generally more understandable by the modern population. In both the play and Baz Luhrmann’s film the characterisation and continual development of the characters is comparably handled in the same way, and the plot is constructed similarly in both the modern film and the play. The dialogue remains identical as in the play, but much of it has been removed due to the restrictions of time. However, there are vast differences as well between the modern film and the play. The settings are unalike, being centuries apart. The themes that are thoroughly discussed in the play have been correctly maintained in the interpretation in Luhrmann’s film, and have not been modified.

The setting that has been employed in the play and the film are dissimilar. In the play, the setting is the city of Verona in the 16th century, while the movie takes place and is set on a location called Verona Beach, in the 20th century. The setting has been purposely altered in the film in order to effectively provide a modernized look at the play, and to successfully make the film appeal more to the audience as they can readily see more similarities in the play to their own lives and cities. Luhrmann takes advantage of the setting to engage the audience by cleverly presenting to the audience a setting that they can associate their daily lives with, as it is more relevant to our current world. However, the decision to continue using the old language that Shakespeare used does not blend smoothly and is not in context with the modern setting and this causes the dialogue to feel unsuitable. Therefore the setting that has been utilised in Baz Luhrmann’s interpretation affects the quality of it due to the fact that the modernization of the setting feels alienated and distant from the rest of the original play.

The plot of the film, while essentially similar to that of the play, has some minor differences. The introduction of the plot to the audience was created differently. Instead of introducing the film with a prologue like the play has, Baz has opted for a news report to commence the story. The climax is fabricated very differently in the film. In the play, Romeo simply kills Tybalt straight after Tybalt kills Mercutio. In the film, however, a car chase scene is added, and Romeo shoots Tybalt. Minor variations are also present, for example, the placement of events and presence of characters. When the nurse appears to conversate Romeo, she is alone in the film, but accompanied by Peter in the play. ‘Thy Drugs are quick’ is mentioned in different times in the play and the film. Romeo proclaims it after consuming the ecstasy tablet in the film, but the play reveals that Romeo says this quote after drinking the suicide drug. In the film a police officer exiles Romeo rather than a prince, like in the play. Also, Romeo purchases the poison from an apothecary in Verona in the film. However, in the play the poison is first bought in Mantua before he departs for Verona. These minor differences all adjust the quality of interpretation, as these inaccuracies can warp a viewer’s idea of the original play, as the interpretation was created so that young people can understand the original play better. They may have taken these events in to have happened in the original play.

The target audience of the film is the younger generation of the modern world, as many youths have trouble understanding the old language and play. However, because this film is set in a modern setting, this makes viewing and understanding the play easier for the younger modern generation. However, this does influence the quality of the interpretation of the film. Luhrmann has removed and cut out many words in the film, as this has negatively affected the character development and the original connotation that Shakespeare intended when he wrote the play. This unconstructively modifies the quality of the interpretation. In addition, Luhrmann, in order to attract his target audience, has unhelpfully shaped his film to give into the demands of popular American teen culture (film produced in America).This film has also been deliberately placed in the action genre, in the typical Hollywood film format to attract more viewers from its target audience. Anything that does not speak to his current and target audience has been removed and taken out. This has also been done in the interests of keeping the film under a two hour time limit. Therefore the attempt to attract the chosen target audience has affected the overall quality of the interpretation, as the changes made distort Shakespeare’s original ideas for the play.

In conclusion, Baz Luhrmann interpretation of the original play was done well in some areas, like characterisation and theme discussion, although weak in other areas. The film overall is a good interpretation, but not an excellent interpretation, providing a contemporary and modernistic view on Shakespeare’s play, with a few inaccuracies. The attempt to attract a target audience has affected the interpretation, the plot has many differences between the play and the film, and the dialogue utilised in the play feels out of place in the modernised setting.