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The Comparison Between This And That

Critical analysis of Romeo and Juliet
By: Shawn Rolison

This paper will compare the differences between Franco Zefferilli's version and Baz Luhrmann's version of Romeo and Juliet. The story of Romeo and Juliet is about two powerful households in Verona Italy; these households have had a grudge with each other for many years. During their fighting some how the son of the Montegues and the daughter of the Capulets fall in love with each other, and the family doesn't like it at all. In 1968 Franco Zeffirelli released his version of Romeo and Juliet, and in 1996 Baz Luhrmann released his version of Romeo and Juliet. These two versions are different but this paper will explain five differences between the movies and the original text. Then it will include an overall critique of the two films.
There are major differences in the two films and the book. The five differences in this paper are the clothes, scenes, weapons used, death scenes, and also the race of the characters in the 1996 version. In the 1996 version, Luhrmann used weapons in his version of Romeo and Juliet. In the original text the characters used swords and in the 1968 version the characters used swords. Why didn't Luhrmann use swords? Maybe he wanted to entertain his viewers. Keep in mind, this is 1996, every television show that was around had gunfights and action involved. So Luhrmann probably thought that if he used swords then his viewers wouldn't be entertained as much if he used guns.
The second difference is the beginning scene of the 1996 version, in the text the play opened up in a town square, and in the 1968 version they opened the play also in a town square. In the 1996 version the play was opened up in a gas station. I think that Luhrmann used the gas station because he thought that the characters need a place to meet up in besides in the middle of the street.
The other difference is the clothes in the 1996 version. Zefirelli used clothes that he thought that people wore back in the...