Free Sample Essays > Shakespeare
A Modern Romeo and Juliet
of Shakespeare should not be re-made into movies, I thought the altered version was interesting and fun. Not many young people would even consider Shakespeare these days because it is old, long and hard to understand, but by re-making the movie and targeting it for a younger generation, the audience is broadened. Almost everyone has heard the story of Romeo and Juliet. It is one of Shakespeare's best and most famous plays made into a number of movies over the years. So, when a well known tragic love story was going to be re-made into a new movie starring Claire Danes and Leonardo DiCaprio, interest struck a new potential audience. Unfortunately, there were some people who didn't like the fact that this director took this classic masterpiece and chopped it up into a new aged story. Many people believe that you can not have the same experience of the play if you don't read or watch the entire thing. But the truth is the length of the play and the original movie was long and seemed drawn out. The new one is only two hours and it moves quickly, keeping one's attention. The same thing goes along with cutting out scenes and parts of the dialogue. The writer of the screenplay wrote it that way so it would move faster. It has the same effect and emotion as the play, just not as long.
Bibliography
Hamilton, Lucy. “Baz vs. the Bartolaters, Or Why William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet Deserves Another Look.” Literature Film Quarterly, 2000: Vol. 28, p 118, 7p.
Guenther, Leah. “Luhrmann’s Top 40 Shakespeare and the Crisis of Shakespearean Consumption.” Journal of American Culture, Spring 99: Vol. 22, Issue 1, p17, 7p.