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Angelo Pizarro
The Story Of Star Crossed Lovers On The Big Screen
(A Romeo And Juliet Movie Comparison)
5/18/14
Block 3
Mrs. Cruz & Ms. Garcia




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THESIS: Franco Zefirelli and Baz Luhrmann both have very different takes on the classic
Shakespeare version of Romeo and Juliet; yet they still both tell the audience of the tragic
story of Romeo & Juliet the way that Shakespeare would have wanted by telling of not only
the love in the story but also of all the action that goes on.
About 421 years ago a play named Romeo And Juliet was written by a man named
William Shakespeare. This play has been performed on stages, the biggest around, and been
turned into movies galore. Even tho there are plenty of movie adaptations the two most popular
and most widely accepted versions were done by directors, Franco Zeffirelli (1968) and Baz
Luhrmann (1996). Even tho these two are both essentially about the same story they differ in
many ways yet still tell of the story the way that Shakespeare would have wanted.
The costuming choices in both the movies really shows how the Capulets and Montagues
will be in the rest of the movie. In Zefferelis version, they are dressed in red and yellow. They
kind of look like clowns the way that they are dressed. These colors show of theyre angel like
characteristic but also fire and how they can switch very fast. The Montagues are dressed in dark
blue and green. They on contrast do not look like clowns at all and rather look more down to the
earth with long cloaks and not a huge one piece like the Capulets wore. These colors show of
how they are calm, stable and more conservative then the Capulets. They do not want to start any
fights and appear to be more religious then the Capulets in the start of the play. In Luhrmanns
version the Montagues are first seen wearing Hawaiian shirts and shorts. This shows of how they
are more outgoing and like to party and be more sociable. The Capulets are much more formal
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and appear to be much more kick back. One of them even has Mother Mary on his shirt and
kisses his gun before he shoots at the Capulets which shows that they are more religious then the
Capulets who have no religious symbolism on them at all. Romeo and Juliet are portrayed in
both ways differently as well. In Zefferelis version, Romeo is shown as a innocent young man
who appears to only care about love when first seen talking to Benvolio. This contrasts the newer
version in which Romeo appears to be more mature and isnt first seen really innocent but more
grown penning in his diary his oxymoronic speech. Juliet in Zefferelis version is also seen very
innocent, and seems to be taken back when Romeo kisses her at the dance and doesnt really
know how to take it or what to do about it. Zefferli really wanted to show that she was young and
this was her first time in true love and it was all coming at her so fast. In Luhrmans later
version, she seems to know how to kiss him back and kisses him much more in that scene then in
the older movie. She doesnt seem surprised at all but rather wants him to kiss her and it doesnt
make her character seem as young but rather that she has been in love before.
In Act II, the balcony scene of both of the films is really when they both get a chance to
have a long talk with each other and get to spend time with each other after they have found out
that both of their families are enemies and that they have no chance to be together with their
parents permission. In Zefferlis version Juliet is seen on the balcony above Romeo who is on the
ground looking up at her. Zefferli meant to show by this that she is on a higher more holier level
then Romeo is. This is because Romeo has to look up to her because she is not on the same level
as Romeo is. She is Romeos angel that brings him happiness and pleasure like Rosaline could
never do. Luhurmans version of this scene does not really even involve a balcony. When Romeo
goes back to the Montague house, he sees a light in a balcony but it just turns out to be the maid
and not Juliet. Instead in his version, this scene happens poolside and their dialogue is mostly all
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in the pool. When Romeo first talks to her she is frightened and falls into the pool with him.
Because water symbolizes purity, this means that while they are in the pool (everything they say
and do) is pure and provides clarity. She then gets out while talking about how sudden
everything is happening and how she doesnt know how to take it. This is no longer pure and
clear because now she is questioning their love and doesnt know if it is true love or not. Soon
after tho, they both fall back into the pool and proceed to make out. This shows that in fact their
love is true/clear, and pure.
In the older version, Zeferelli really wanted to demonstrate their innocence with all the
giggling that Juliet does. Its also shown at how when she is surprised by Romeo and since she is
in her night gown covers herself because she thinks that a boy shouldnt be seeing her in this
form that she barely knows. If she wasnt innocent she would then not care about either of these
things and would not see it as a problem. She is not a good kisser as Romeo is, this is shown by
how Romeo is really kissing her with her not kissing him back like experienced lovers would do.
Romeo is also innocent in this adaptation. This is shown in how he swings from the tree after
they kiss like a child would do out of sheer happiness. No mature person would sit there and
swing there like a monkey with a huge grin on their face. The other way that the viewer shows
that he is innocent is after he learns of their marriage that soon shall be, he skips through the
woods to Friar Lawrence again with a huge smile on his face. Luhurmanns version differs from
this very much so. This is because this scene doesnt show the innocence of the text, but rather
shows the impulsiveness of the text. When they are both kissing each other, they do so like they
both have done so plenty of times before. Also in the later version, there is a lot more kissing
then in the other version with a lot of the text cut out to allow for long making out scenes to be
put into the film. If they were as innocent as the other film they wouldnt be doing this but rather
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would be talking about their love as they do in the older film. Not only is there more kissing
scenes in the later film but there each of the scenes is much longer then Zeferellis version. This
also adds to show that in the later movie they were to be portrayed as more mature and knew
how to handle this new found love.