Baz Luhrman's
Baz Luhrman updates the classic Shakespeare tale of "Romeo and Juliet" to good effect in his film. This is done primarily to grab the attention of the audience who may otherwise be put off by 'boring' set pieces. Without changing the story, he updates the characters and themes to suit the 21st century, and in doing so manages to better relate the story to the audience. One particular scene is the ballroom party at the Capulet mansion, and we will be looking in detail at this to see how the setting draws the audience in and how Luhrman uses this scene to relate Romeo and Juliet's lives with the audiences'.The ballroom scene starts off with Romeo taking some sort of pill, Ecstacy presumably. When Romeo enters the actual ballroom he goes in with his cousins and he flashes his ticket at the bouncer in a very stoned way, prompting the bouncer to look down at him as if to say "Oh good another stoned person." The costumes people are wearing reflect the tastelessness of the fancy dress ball with everyone wearing very glitzy, tacky costumes. Gloria Capulet is dressed as Cleopatra, Fulgencio is dressed as a roman god, The Capulet boys are dressed as skeletons, except for Tybalt, who is wea
The modern film not only shows the story in a new light, but it also makes a point about the timelessness of Shakespeare's writings, that they are just that, timeless. He has changed almost everything to make it into something young people can relate to such as guns, cars, sex, parties and drugs. The strobe lights make the ball look party like and modern. We see scenes such as Gloria Capulet kissing her nephew Tybalt and Fulgencio Capulet with a young girl rather than his wife. This is done very clearly to let the audience know who they hero and heroine of the story is, and who the bad guy is, as evident by Tybalt wearing the devil horns. The scene is then abruptly ended by the harsh voice of Juliet's nurse saying "Juliet your mother asks for you" and that is the end of the ballroom scene. The camera angles are mostly medium long shots showing the ball with all the people there crammed into one shot to make it look busy and popular. Romeo then notices a fish tank in the middle of the room he walks over to it whilst the camera pans round him showing a man dressed as a old world jester using a urinal. There is a very long shot when Mercutio is dancing at the top of the stairs, this is a very long shot to show the huge painting of the Virgin Mary as well as to show his dancers and the crowd watching him dance. After Romeo spins the scene jump cuts into the bathroom and you can see Romeo's face in a basin of water. Romeo then starts spinning and the camera follows him around the room. The fairy lights are just there for decoration around the ceiling and doors. The lighting is heavy in the ballroom with strobe lights, spotlights and fairy lights. Juliet is dressed as an angel wearing a white dress and feathered wings on her back; to make her look innocent and pure, while Romeo is dressed as a knight in chain-mail; the knight in shining armour presumably, to make him look strong and dominant.
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Acceptance Essays
