Comparing Romeo And Juliet And The Zeffirelli Film
509 Words3 Pages
A well known scene from Shakespeare’s classic; Romeo and Juliet, is the balcony scene. The two movie renditions of this romantic scene provide varied aspects of the passion between star-crossed lovers. The Zeffirelli film (1968) and the Luhrmann film (1997) both represent Romeo and Juliet as spontaneous youth, overcome by each other’s appearances. Encountering Juliet at a Capulet party, Romeo comes to the balcony of her house later that night, sitting outside, hoping to see her again. The similarities of the two movies end there though, as the Luhrmann film takes a much more modern approach to the story. The Zeffirelli film offers large, extravagant costumes, much closer to what the actors would have worn during Shakespeare’s time, while the costumes in the Luhrmann film are much more…show more content… Modern Juliet wears a thin, white dress that, remarkably, doesn’t fly up or become see-through when the actors not-so-subtly fall into a pool. The setting in the Luhrmann film is a courtyard of a modern mansion and as Juliet is paces and talks to herself about Romeo, he sneaks behind her and catches her off guard, causing them both to fall into a swimming pool. This is far from the original text, and it defeats the balcony part of ‘the balcony scene.’ The noise of the moving water takes away from the smooth, romantic atmosphere and makes viewers restless as they anticipate the couple being caught by the pool security guard. The Zeffirelli film stays true to the title ‘balcony scene,’ With Juliet on one side of the railing, and Romeo on the other. The siding keeps them apart, but they are together at the same time. The wall between them represents the feud between their families, which seeks to keep them apart. The railing also becomes a problem when the two