Romeo and Juliet: A Timeless Tragedy :: essays research papers

Romeo and Juliet A Timeless TragedyWilliam Shakespeare wrote his ever famous play, Romeo and Juliet, in 1595. Like many of Shakespeare&8217s plays, the story of Romeo and Juliet is timeless and has proven to remain maybe the most popular story of tragic love. In 1968, 373 years after the play was pilot lightly written, a bleak movie was released and hailed as a bare-ass and futuristic Romeo and Juliet. This film is say by Franco Zeffirelli and stars Leonard Whiting as Romeo and Olivia Hussey as Juliet. Then, in 1996, a mere 401 years after Shakespeare&8217s original production, Baz Luhrmann directed a new Romeo and Juliet that features Leonardo Dicaprio as Romeo and Claire Danes as Juliet. This film is extremely futuristic compared to any other reading material that has been produced. The two films differ from Shakespeare&8217s original play in some respects, but most viewers would agree that these films both follow Shakespeare&8217s story with adaptations to the time at which they were produced.Franco Zeffirelli&8217s version of the play follows Shakespeare&8217s version very closely. The buildings and costumes reveal that the setting in this film is old Verona during Shakespeare&8217s time. The plot is nearly exact when compared to the original play. to the highest degree viewers would agree that Zeffirelli&8217s movie would not surprise that audience of William Shakespeare. Aside from the this production being a movie on a cover instead of an actual, first hand play, the language, plot, setting, and costumes are very similar to what an audience 400 years ago might expect.Although both films have been named futuristic, more so is the version by Baz Luhrmann. Luhrmann took Romeo and Juliet in a different direction. The story takes place in the future where buildings, costumes, and weapons are all suggestive of the future, but the language and primary plot structure is extremely similar to Shakespeare&8217s original Romeo and Juliet. The movie opens wit h a prologue in the form of evening news on television, and it tells that this will be a story of &8220star cross&8217d lovers who will die for their love of each other. Each difference takes an element of the original play and adapts it to the new setting. Shakespeare&8217s play had servants of both the Capulet family and the Montague family starting a fight in a public square. Luhrmann introduced these characters as the &8220Capulet Boys and the &8220Montague Boys. The fight breaks out in a swash station and continues throughout a busy street.