Romeo And Juliet And Franco Zeffirelli's

One of the most popular scenes in the history of literature is the “balcony scene” described by Shakespeare in his play Romeo and Juliet. The scene shows Romeo and Juliet meeting after they have just shared a kiss, and professing their love for one another, while also making plans for their marriage the next day. The popularity of the scene has caused it to take on many different forms and depictions through all facets of media. Two of the most popular depictions are in Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 movie, Romeo and Juliet, and Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 film, Romeo and Juliet. In my opinion, Franco Zeffirelli’s version of Shakespeare’s most famous work was superior to Baz Lurmann’s because Zeffirelli’s was far more realistic, there was more of a sense

In Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet are young and immature lovers, and therefore acted spontaneously and in a childish manner. This was evident in Zeffirelli’s depiction of the “balcony scene”, where Romeo is seen hanging and climbing on trees proclaiming his joy, and Juliet is seen leaving Romeo and returning again to then forget what she was going to say. Conversely, Luhrmann’s depiction of the scene utilized visibly older actors and featured very little of the playfulness described in Zeffirelli’s scene. Romeo was not seen yelling in joy or hanging from trees and Juliet is not seen returning to Romeo to then forget her thought, but rather the two are displayed in a more serious light. Luhrmann may have done this to better position the audience to realize the tragedy of the play using a more serious scene, however, the age of the actors and their more serious demeanor make the scene less realistic for the audience.

Additionally, Zeffirelli’s version of the “balcony scene” occurred in a far more private setting, creating more intimacy between the young lovers. In his version, he showed Juliet standing on her secluded balcony, far from those inside the Capulet household, while Romeo was professing his love from the surrounding forest. There were no disturbances during the scene, allowing the couple to focus on each other, rather than the risk of them getting caught.