Romeo And Juliet Vs Zeffirelli's

What has been retained, enhanced, and/or lost in the play’s movement from Shakespeare’s page to Baz Luhrmann’s and Franco Zeffirelli’s respective scenes?
Romeo and Juliet, one of Shakespeare’s ageless classics, has enthralled audiences everywhere for hundreds of years. Two versions of this iconic play include Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 film and Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 film. Zeffirelli’s film is mainly focussed on retaining accuracy and remaining faithful to the original play script. In contrast, Luhrmann opts for a more contemporary take on the classic piece. Although none of the script had been changed noticeably, Luhrmann’s use of tone and design has adapted the film specifically to resonate with a more modern audience. Act 3 Scene 1, in which

In Baz Luhrmann’s version the scene is set on sunny Verona beach with an assortment of beach stalls and large umbrellas spread around, this creates a seemingly carefree mood; just like a regular day at the beach with friends. In conjunction with Shakespeare’s play, Zefferelli’s film is set in a town square near the church, with large walls made of stone and fountains bordering the scene; Zeffirelli’s setting remains faithful to the original script, making his version very historically accurate. As time goes on in both film adaptations, the setting changes; In the Zeffirelli version the fight between Mercutio and Tybalt moves all around the town square and when Romeo finally joins the fight, the scene moves out onto the dirt. Similarly in the Luhrmann version, as fights and conflicts start to rise the scene changes as well; the scene progressively gets darker as a harsh storm starts to brew, and as the scene is ending and Romeo is killing Tybalt the storm is raging, foreshadowing the chain of death that will come in the rest of the play. This use of setting is one way the films can definitely enhance the original play scripts and make the story more

Luhrmann’s version uses a wide range of shot types so that you can see everything that you need to, he uses a lot of close ups to show people’s reactions to other characters, and also to show the emotion on people’s faces in detail; for example when Mercutio stands up on the stage and says “If you ask of me tomorrow you will find a grave man” the camera zooms in on his face to show his emotion and the pain he is feeling, then the camera tilts down to show the cut on his stomach in detail; the added detail that can be shown with use of close up shots undeniably enhances the original play script. However in the Zeffirelli version there are fewer close ups, but what they lack in close up shots they make up for in their predominate use of mid shots, this allows the audience to see what was going on in the fight scene. But, the Zeffirelli version is not the only one that uses mid shots; the Luhrmann version also uses a wide range of mid shots for when the fights are ensuing and also to show a character’s interactions. Both versions use many long shots to show the mood scale of the conflict, they also both use extreme long shots to set the