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A Modern Romeo and Juliet
I think that the motion picture "William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet” is a very well written interpretation of the original play. The original movie was a beautiful period piece done with authentic costumes, in an authentic setting with British actors. At the time the movie was considered somewhat scandalous because of the sex and nudity, but the public still praised it. Then in 1996 Baz Luhrmann directed his movie version and re-introduces it as a current love story in a beautiful place.
To better understand the beauty that is Shakespeare, director Baz Luhrmann decided to take the importance of the play and re-create the story in a setting and a time when a younger generation could understand it.
He used well-known young actors and contemporary costumes to show that even in these times love may conquer over bitter scorn and happiness can be found. One could say it gives hope of a fairytale story in the life we live in presently.
The movie itself takes place in our modern times in a place called Verona Beach, which is a very interesting spin-off of the Verona in the play. It's hot, and the characters are at the beach. The new and upcoming Leonardo DiCaprio plays Romeo and Juliet is played by the famous young actress Claire Danes. The rest of the players consist of an all star cast. Because the story takes place in modern times than expected, the costumes are up to the minute fashion. For the costume party Romeo arrives as a knight in shining armor while his Juliet is a lovely young angel. The party takes place in the enormous residence of the Capulets. Everyone who matters is there, and the house is a whirlwind of costumes, colors, music and dancing. Verona beach is not a small town. It is a large populated city with crime and a strong presence of dislike between the Capulets and Montagues, not unlike today's rival gangs, which seems to effect the whole city. Another unexpected twist to the original is the usage of guns rather than swords as the weapon of choice.
Even with all of the hate that seems to be going on they set a very good tone with the different kinds of music they use. A very important part of displaying emotion in a movie is what kind of music is played during certain scenes. From alternative to a more quiet classical music, even their own rendition of a seventies “Prince” song during one of the masses in church (Hamilton 118). The mood was appropriately set with perfectly selected music.
It was a very successful movie. The reviews said they didn't like the fact that Shakespeare had been cut up for young viewers to the point that they would loose sight of what Shakespeare was trying to say, but that they were pleasantly surprised by what the director had done with it. The fact that audiences were entranced by the new movie only enraged critics further (Guenther 17). While some think that the plays of [next page]