Essay/Term paper: Romeo and juliet

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Shakespeare

The most important purpose for adopting a Shakespearean play to film is

showing the action and the real emotion of the play. I feel the Dicaprio

version fulfills this purpose better than the Zeffereli version for the

following reasons. Overall it is more entertaining, more attention is paid

to action scenes such as the intensity of the feud, and the music really

suits the play and makes it that much easier to watch.

When I say the modern version is more entertaining I mean that it is far

more captivating to watch then the Zeffereli rendition. This may be because

I am not very familiar with the Shakespeare language. Altogether, I think it

was so engaging because of the fact that I am a sucker for the action in the

film and also because it was newer and easier to understand. Even though the

characters speak in the same manner in both films, I felt that I was often

unaware of what was going on in the Zeffereli version compared to the

Dicaprio version where I understood what was happening in most of the

scenes.

In the modernized version the feud of the families seems very real. With the

opening scene of the film you know right away how serious the vendetta is.

Even if the guns are not true to the story, I think they portray the

seriousness of the quarrel much better than any other version that I have

seen or heard so far.

Lastly, I enjoyed the modern interpretation more because it pays more

attention to detail. In the necessary spots the film always has the perfect

music. I also enjoyed the characters' personalities, meaning I liked the

casting of Juliet, Tybalt, Mercutio and Benvolio. The only character that I

thought could have been better represented would be Romeo. I believe that

Leanardo Dicaprio was not the best choice and that many others could have

played the role of Romeo much more convincingly. There are only a few things

that I did not enjoy in the modern film. There was the casting of Romeo, as

well as the camera work that I found to be annoying to watch with the slow

motion scenes and the frequent repetition of shots of the same scene.

Finally, I didn't like Romeo dying in Juliet's arms when they were both

still alive. I think that they should've stayed with the written version.

All in all, I enjoyed both films and suspect that many people would prefer

the old one, yet many would enjoy the new one. Therefore they are both very

entertaining. Romeo and Juliet is a very engaging tale to read and a very

absorbing movie to watch.