The spark of post-modernity and classic

The Film version that I watched is “Romeo + Juliet” directed by Baz luhrmann in 1996 (Wikipedia). The film does mostly keep the original Shakespeare’s language , yet it completely subverts the original background setting of the story. Although the change is bold and not traditional, the film itself is indeed a perfect fusion of classical Shakespeare play and modern elements.

First of all, the adaption of Shakespeare’s initial play is well-done. The story of Romeo and Juliet is deeply familiar to me; however, due to the time period when the story takes place is unfamiliar to the reader, many delicate details cannot be conveyed. Besides, combining with long poems in the dialogue, it is hard for modern viewers to “digest” the plot. What does the director do is he cuts some parts of the poems and condense it into a few sentences. His decision is brilliant in my point of view, because if those poems had been copied exactly into the film, those poems would have only weakened the grief that Romeo shows and let the viewers think Romeo to be affected and long-winded. For instance, in the play, before Romeo buys the poison, he says a 24 lines poem, but in the film, Romeo simply says “O Juliet, I’ll lie with thee tonight, I will fence tonight”. In addition, the director adds a lot of modern plots into the film. The film takes place still in Verona, but it is a completely different city which is more like Rio de Janeiro rather than the actual Verona. Chaos is the eternal theme in this city and to the modern viewers, the setting will seem to be more interesting.

Secondly, the bold attempt of setting the story in the modern times is attractive and the essential part of the story does not change at all. The sword fight became the gunfight; the prince became the police officer; the decent party became much more fancy. Although the background is completely different, the film does keep the main theme of Shakespeare’s play. The difference between Montague and Capulet is apparent: Montagues are more like bludgers wearing colorful clothes while Capulets are more decent and wear suits. More importantly, the love of Romeo and Juliet does not change and both of the characters remains pure and innocent. The director uses several plots to reveal and emphasize their pure love. The encounter of the sights between the two through the fish tank and the gaze in the swimming pool are really cogent scene to let viewers feel the love between them.

Last but not the least, the film has a powerful background music. The music is expressive and sensational. When Romeo and Juliet marry, the song is full of blessing and love. When Mercutio dies and repeats the sentence “ A plague o’ both your houses”, the music is low and horrified, combining with looming darkness.

In conclusion, the film “Romeo+Juliet” is a great adaption of Shakespeare’s original play and it combines classic smoothly with modern elements.