Personal Response Romeo and Juliet

The modern version of Shakespeare’s world-famous play ‘Romeo and Juliet’ by Baz Luhrmann can be considered quite succesful according to me. 

This modernized version of Shakespeare’s famous play still retained it’s original dialogue. The charming lines revealed the romantic tone of the play. But, according to me, the original tragic lines which were used by the modern characters from the movie ‘Romeo and Juliet’ (by Baz Luhrmann) sometimes didn’t match quite well. These tragic lines ensured that the emotion put into the play, especially by Romeo, was ridiculous excessive. The tragic scenes could not be taken serious by me anymore. This was for example the case in the scene when Romeo was banned out of the country.

However the background music fortunately upholds the tragic message of the story. Without the music the ‘Death scene’ for example would have been more comic than pitiful.

The costumes and props were the only things which really modernized Romeo and Juliet’s ‘world’ in Baz Lughrmann’s version of the play. Instead of using swords the characters in this modern play used guns. And another great example of the costumes and props used in this movie is in the ‘death scene’, when Romeo is wearing a beach shirt and Juliet, at the end of the scene, comits suicide with a gun.

The morals of the original play and the language used in Shakespeare’s play remained the same. Although these aspects have changed quite massively the past fourhunderd years. 

My own visualised prototype of Romeo and Juliet before seeing this movie resembled the actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes as Romeo and Juliet perfectly. Juliet portraited as an innocent angelic character, and Romeo: able-bodied and still very romantic.

Baz Luhrman’s succesfully renewed the more than fourhundred years old romantic and tragic play, Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare.