William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is a classic tale about two young star-crossed lovers who meet their ultimate demise. Many have been touched by this tragic story, and many have recreated it. I have watched both Zeffirelli’s and Luhrmann's version of Romeo and Juliet, which were both very different depictions of the old favorite. I am convinced that Luhrmann made a better depiction of the original theme: the forcefulness of love can cause great doings. Primarily, the urgency of Romeo and Juliet was conveyed better in Luhrmann's version. The movie seemed to move quickly, which made me feel the urgency of their actions. The fights were played up and drawn out, using guns instead of swords. I feel that the use of modern technology made the fights more brutal. In Zeffirelli’s depiction, although more true to the play, they used swords. I think this took away some of the urgency because we can't relate to it as easily. The sound of a gunshot seems to hold more forcefulness compared to a soft clang of metal. The details of these fights are important because many of them were caused by and affected …show more content…
Claire Danes (Juliet) and Leonardo DiCaprio (Romeo) showed believable emotion, which made me feel empathic. That empathy carried over to other parts of the movie, such as Tybalt's fatal fight, and the infamous death scene. I connected better with Luhrmann's modern depiction than I did with Zeffirelli’s older one. Olivia Hussey (Juliet) and Leonard Whiting (Romeo) didn't portray emotion very well. Neither of them were convincing me that their characters were in love, which is really the basis of the story. Danes and DiCaprio showed that Romeo and Juliet were hopelessly in love, as well as showed their extreme pain, sadness, and anger throughout the film. The emotions shown in Luhrmann's version of Romeo and Juliet conveyed that the immense power of love can cause great