Luhrmann And Zeffirelli's Forbidden Love

The two adaptations by Luhrmann and Zeffirelli of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet into film, both convey a similar theme of forbidden love by using various lighting techniques and camera angles/movements; although, Zeffirelli does a better job at displaying this theme by his use of camera angles.
The adaptations of Romeo and Juliet by both Luhrmann and Zeffirelli use lowkey and highkey lighting to help prove a forbidden lovers theme. The low-key lighting which is present in the beginning of the scene from Luhrmann’s film when Romeo is hiding amongst the statues helps to show a theme of forbidden love: as Romeo had to sneak into Juliet’s backyard while maintaining complete silence (which he failed to do). Although, the low-key lighting does

Juliet’s yearning to be with Romeo is seen when she says, “Deny thy father and refuse thy name/ or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love / And I’ll no longer be a Capulet” (2.2.37-39). As Juliet is speaking about how she wants her and Romeo to abandon their names and run-off together, it shows her willingness to sacrifice even her family name to be with her lover. The camera tilts and zooms amplify the resilient love of Juliet for Romeo in the message which is conveyed by Juliet to show the emotions of both Juliet and Romeo and what they would do to be with one another. In addition to Luhrmann conveying the intense love of Romeo and Juliet, he also does a great job of showing the young and impulsive love of the two by using tracking as Romeo and Juliet jump into the pool. At this moment in the scene the fast tracking of the camera on Romeo and Juliet helps to convey how quickly the two are moving. In addition, the zoom on Romeo and Juliet’s faces as they are kissing shows that they are deeply in love and yearn to have each other. The impulsiveness demonstrated by the camera tracking shows that Romeo and Juliet are moving quickly because they do not want to get caught by their families. In Zeffirelli’s version, as Juliet says to herself, “Deny thy father and refuse thy name/ or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love / And I’ll no longer be a Capulet,” the camera immediately zooms onto the face of Romeo to show him smirking (2.2.37-39). Juliet talking about how the two should abandon their family names shows how committed she was to being with Romeo. As soon as Juliet had finished speaking, the camera immediately zoomed onto Romeo to show him smirking; proving that he too was happy and committed enough to pursue the forbidden love which he had with Juliet. Romeo