Love in a Lost World
Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare’s most well known plays – it continues to be studied in countless English classrooms and remains a frequent pop-culture reference point. It has also been the subject of many big-screen adaptations, including one made by cinema pioneer J Stuart Blackton in 1908; a lush 1936 production directed by George Cukor, featuring mature-aged stars Norma Shearer (thirty-four) and Leslie Howard (forty-three); and Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 production, renowned for its countercultural vibe, lush music and teenage leads. In the VHS years, Zeffirelli’s romantic Renaissance-styled Romeo and Juliet became the go-to classroom resource for teachers struggling to connect students with the rhythms of Shakespearean language and draw them into the dysfunctional world of the Montagues and the Capulets. That is, until the release of Baz Luhrmann’s audacious and dynamic William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet (1996). Explicitly targeting a teen audience, Romeo + Juliet is a musical and visual extravaganza, its aesthetic of excess combining fast-paced editing, unconventional cinematography, an ornate and eclectic soundtrack, a pastiche of styles, and a collage of religious and pop-culture iconography. Though criticised at the time for its irreverence, Luhrmann’s film draws directly from Shakespeare’s play (albeit trimmed to a snappy 40 per cent of the original text).
Romeo + Juliet is a musical and visual extravaganza, its aesthetic of excess combining fast-paced editing, unconventional cinematography, an ornate and eclectic soundtrack, a pastiche of styles, and a collage of religious and pop-culture iconography.
Set in a ‘made-up world comprised of twentieth century icons’, is replete with visual and aural references designed in part to support the Shakespearean dialogue and ‘clarify what’s being said’, and in part to create its own spectacular, stylised world. In it, Luhrmann mixes references to spaghetti westerns, Mardi Gras, the Day of the Dead, Catholicism, trailer parks, seaside carnivals, urban gangs and more. The editing, along with Peter Travers argued that Luhrmann’s intent was ‘not to distract you from the words […] but to lead you to them’. As cinematographer Donald McAlpine pointed out around the time of the film’s release, is a resolutely cinematic work, moving beyond the classical conventions of Shakespearean theatre to speak directly to an audience indifferent to the prestige of high culture. To draw viewers into this highly wrought cinematic world, McAlpine helped develop a ‘new film language’ by highlighting the dynamic, perspective-shifting possibilities of cinema. In creating , Luhrmann both broke away from the stage and rejected the conventions of Hollywood realism, creating instead an operatic spectacle – or perhaps an ‘MTV fantasia’ – to encourage a direct connection with the intense emotions and high stakes at the heart of the play.
