Most Recent Romeo And Juliet Film example essay topic

Romeo and Juliet is a well known play, which was written by William Shakespeare in 1594. Different actors have performed this play through-out the years and it has been adapted in many different ways. When comparing the narrative elements of the most recent Romeo and Juliet film, directed by Baz Luhrmann, to the original play, written by William Shakespeare, there are many similarities and differences to be noted. The first narrative element to be compared is the setting. The film and play's settings are similar yet different; Baz Luhrmann has taken the setting of the play and adapted it into present day. William Shakespeare set his play in Verona, Italy in the 1590's, while Baz Luhrmann set his film in Verona Beach, California in the 1990's.

There are also many other visible differences in the setting in both the play and film. In the play, the first scene (the fight) took place in a market place, Friar Lawrence's cell was in a paddock, the Capulets and Montagues both lived in castles and when Juliet was thought to be dead her body was placed in the tomb with her deceased ancestors. While the first scene of the film took place in a petrol station, Friar Lawrence's cell was in a greenhouse, both families lived in modern mansions and Juliet's body was placed in an open casket in the church. There are many similarities and differences in the setting of both the film and play, however, of equal importance it is to compare the characters. Characters are one of the most important narrative elements to consider. There are many obvious differences with the characters and how they are portrayed.

Baz Luhrmann has taken the characters from the play and made them modern, to make the film more appealing to current audiences and also so we can relate to the character more. In the film, Romeo is in a gang, he frequently carried a gun and in most scenes he wore a hawaiian print shirt. Also, one of Romeo's friends had pink hair and Mercutio had black dread locks and was from African American descent - in the play it was highly unlikely that Romeo and his friends would look like this. Friar Lawrence seemed less uptight and more relaxed in the film and the nurse seemed more outgoing and wild and this again appeals to the modern audiences. In the play, Abraham was a servant to the Montagues but in the film he was a bodyguard to Tybalt, a Capulet. Also, in the film, his name was changed to Abra, as Abraham is an old fashion name.

Although there are many differences, there are also quite a few similarities between the characters of both the film and play. In both the film and play, Juliet seemed distant from her mother and closer to the nurse. Also Mercutio still expressed the same flamboyant attitude. One can easily see the similarities and differences of the characters featured in the film and play, but it is also important to draw comparisons between the plot. The events that take place during the course of the story are called the plot.

The main concept of the story remained focused in the film, but a few points were changed and taken out to make the film more interesting and appealing. Some of the changes in the film were: When both Romeo and Tybalt were fighting they used guns rather than swords, Romeo chased Tybalt in a car instead of running and Tybalt died at the beach instead of the town square. Also, in the film Paris did not get slain by Romeo and Juliet shots herself instead of stabbing herself with a dagger. With these differences come the similarities. The introduction, middle and end of the film and play remained the same, in many aspects. Love forces Romeo and Juliet's death and Juliet was still faced with the same problem of not knowing whether she should obey her father and marry Paris, or go with her heart and marry Romeo.

There are many similarities and differences in the plot of the film and play, but it is also important to compare the dialogue used. Dialogue is what is said between the characters. Most of the Shakespearean dialogue, which was used in the play, was kept the same through-out the film, however, some of the dialogue was missing, with most of the film's focus on the action. This was probably done to make the film flow more smoothly. For example, in the film, we are not shown the conversation that took place between Romeo and Paris, which lead to Romeo killing Paris, by taking that part out it keeps the focus on the love and then death of Romeo and Juliet. Some of the actions in the film were changed to correspond with the dialogue of the play.

For instance, in the film, Benvolio says, "Part fools, you know not what you do. Put up your swords". Then Tybalt was holding up his gun and 'Sword 9 mm' was written on the side of the gun, however, in the play, actual swords were used. This shows one of the few differences between the film and play. The similarities and differences are easily seen in the dialogue of both the film and play, but it is also important to compare the themes. The last narrative element to be compared is the themes.

Most of the themes in both the film and play are very similar, as the main concept of the play was kept the same. For instance, the themes of: love, fate, hatred, tragedy and death make a strong impact in both the film and play. Love was shown when Romeo met Juliet, he knows that she is different and most importantly, their love lasted through many hardships. Hate was shown between the Capulets and Montagues and their hate was for nothing, it was just an ancient grudge that no one had bothered ending. So Shakespeare was trying to tell us that hatred never leads to any good. Fate, which leads to the tragedy, was shown through-out the film and play.

Romeo and Juliet only met by chance, the Friar's letters informing Romeo about Juliet never reached him because of unfortunate circumstances and Juliet woke up only a few minutes after Romeo had killed himself. Fate made a huge impact on the lives of Romeo and Juliet. The themes in both the film and play are almost identical; they are just presented through different setting and characters. The setting of the Romeo and Juliet film and play bare similarities and differences, the film was set in the modern era but still based on the basic setting of the play.

Baz Luhrmann has taken the characters from Shakespeare's play and he has revitalized them into people of the 20th century, so that the film is more appealing and we can relate to the characters. While the main plot, themes and dialogue remained the fairly similar, to support Shakespeare's original intentions of the play. Whilst comparing the most recent Romeo and Juliet film, directed by Baz Luhrmann, to the original play, written by William Shakespeare, many similarities and differences were discovered. The story of Romeo and Juliet is timeless, although it has been almost 5 centuries since its first production, the story of Romeo and Juliet is still making an impact on the audiences of the 21st century..