Romeo and Juliet
This play is probably one of the most over used story lines ever! The amount of spin off versions done is ridiculous - some are good like the Baz Lurhman version and some are not so good like 'letters to Juliet'. This story has been done time and time again and is truly beautiful. It's even been made into a musical - 'West Side Story' - Kids know about it through 'Gnomeo and Juliet' which I must say I rather enjoyed! And still by the end of the film I am in tears because no matter how hard you try it is a tragedy.
But let's look at it a little closer....
Juliet is only 13 years old in the play and to some of us we might think it's a bit mental what she does at her age - but times change.
A lot of films forget to mention this fact about Juliet's age...I wonder why?
My three favourite adaptations of this play have to be Gnomeo and Juliet, Baz Lurhman's Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story.
BAZ LUHRMAN uses the same script that Shakespeare wrote and my word don't the actors use it well - to me Shakespeare's writing is hard to understand but I find that when actors know what they are saying and say it perfectly I understand what is happening. Leonardo DiCaprio and Clare Danes did a beautiful job of showing two lovers die through a family feud.
Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
Do with their death bury their parents' strife.
The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,
And the continuance of their parents' rage,
Which, but their children's end, nought could remove,
Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage;
The which if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.
WEST SIDE STORY - one of the best musicals of all time - The story was adapted and set in the 1960's where racism towards emigrants was huge, andadapted the story to suit America in the 1960's. Through song and dance they show the war between two gangs and how it tears apart to people who love each other dearly.
And Finally GNOMEO AND JULIET!
Seriously the amount of inside jokes and detail there is about Shakespeare and Romeo and Juliet is brilliant! I sit there watching the film understanding all the little 'in' jokes that you would only know about if you had done some research on Shakespeare...which I like to think I have done.
The film is set in Stratford with two gardens with different Gnomes fighting. Juliet and Gnomeo (ingenious name) go through the same story as before but because it is a children's film neither one of them die - I mean not even Tibult dies...which is super disappointing.
All these adaptations are incredible and different in their own way - which does show how flexible his writing actually is. Just think, this play was published in 1597 and all these hundreds of years later it is still being used. It is timeless and beautiful.
Comparing to Shakspeare's versions of the plays
Shakespeare's plays back in the 1600's had minimal effects used on stage and the audience would have to be bedazzled by the sword fighting and the poetic words but nowadays we have animations of it which is really a step up and we have different interpretations of what the story is truly about and I do think that a lot of the meaning can be lost over the years.
The actors in Shakespeare's time wouldn't of had much time to rehearse and prepare and just would of had to use their pure skill of acting to use. The boys would also be playing the girls roles which really does differ from what we have today where the girls play the girls parts. There is a lot of rehearsal now required today because the actors need to understand what they are saying
I mean there is still much debate about this line of Romeo and Juliet
"Romeo, Romeo, Where for art thou Romeo?" - For years I used to think that this meant "Romeo, Romeo, Where are you?" But no. Apparently it means "Romeo, Romeo, Why are you called Romeo?" or something along those lines.
There is much more time put into rehearsing and the special effects have really advanced since 1597.
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