Romeo and Juliet a film review: the legendary lovers in 21st century/Romeo ve Juliet film elestirisi: efsane asiklar 21.yy'da.

Samlioglu, Zehra

If the word 'love' is thrown out of literature, the words 'Romeo and Juliet' would easily replace it without causing any confusion. The legendary play of Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet has been occupying the hearts of people for hundreds of years. It is translated into many languages and nearly everybody in the world must have heard something about it. Every simple sentence that Shakespeare wrote for Romeo and Juliet takes the breath of readers and especially the lovers away. Its beautiful and poetic language makes the reader a part of the story. It is impossible to be indifferent to these perfectly chosen words that make wellstructured and breathtaking sentences. For many years many adaptations of the play have been made, and it is still an inspiration for many works of art and literature. In the film versions of the play, some just use the story in general, some make just references, and some use the play as a whole with its marvelous language. Baz Luhrman's Romeo and Juliet (1996) is of this kind. Nearly all the elements of the play are put in the film. It is as if you watched a very big theatrical production. The theatrical elements and the film techniques all go hand in hand. The dialogues of the play are directly used in the film. The director does not use a special script for the movie. Even the language is the same as the original version of the play. Although the original language is used, the setting of the movie has nothing to do with Shakespearean time, and this also makes Luhrmann's movie different from the others. The modern elements of the setting, the beautiful language of Shakespeare, and the legendary love of Romeo and Juliet put this film into a special place among its kind. By focusing on Baz Luhrmann's movie Romeo and Juliet (1996), the purpose of this essay is to analyze the film in terms of setting, costumes, sounds, lights, performance. The original language and the modern setting combine past and present together, and enable the audience to take a trip in the pages of history.

Romeo and Juliet tells the love story and the tragic lives of two young people-Romeo and Juliet. They love each other very deeply, but they are the children of two enemy families. They fall in love at first sight, and seek ways of getting together. However, Juliet's father wants her to marry with another man. When she rejects marrying that man her father shouts at her and beats her. At the very same time, they send Romeo to exile, because he has killed Juliet's cousin. In order not to get married, Juliet makes a deal with the priest, and he gives her a potion that will make her seem dead in her wedding day. Juliet drinks the potion in the morning of her wedding day, and everybody believes that she is dead. Romeo also learns the death of her lover while he is in exile, but he does not know the trick that they have made. He returns back and finds Juliet lying charmingly in the church. He cannot stand seeing her dead there, and wants to kill himself immediately. At this moment, Juliet awakens and tries to put her hand on Romeo's face. However she is too late. Romeo also drinks a potion and dies there. In the end Juliet kills herself with a gun and dies too. The couples lie dead in the church next to each other.

The setting that clarifies the world that is created within this movie is a key concept for this movie that makes it different from the others. Although the actual play takes place in Verona, Italy, in the movie, they use Mexican beaches. The movie starts with a fight in a petrol station. The young members of two enemy families, Montagues and Capulets, fight with each other. Then we meet with Romeo sitting alone on the beach, and writing something. From the very beginning of the movie to the end there is violence on the beach and this scene with Romeo is almost the only one where everything is settled and calm. The ball that is given in the Capulet's house is the meeting place of the two lovers, Romeo and Juliet. There is not any violence or any other formal atmosphere in Juliet's house. She almost never goes out. She spends most of her time in her room dreaming about her Romeo. Her room is very nice and neatly decorated with soft colors. The setting of her room reflects how pure and innocent she is. Unlike Romeo, who is always outside and facing danger, Juliet is all protected in her cosy room within her sweet dreams. While Juliet is in her protected room waiting for Romeo to come and take her away, Romeo is on the beach facing danger. The beach is very complicated and disordered. It is hard to figure out who is doing what there. There are so many people coming and going, but we do not know what is their role or aim. There is also a stage in the middle of the beach. This stage can be identified as a reference to Shakespeare's 'globe theatre'. The scene in which Juliet's cousin kills Mercutio takes place around this stage. At some part of their fight they are on this stage, but later they continue their fight on the ground.

The carefully selected costumes are one of the modern elements that reflect the present time, and they tell a lot about the personality and the status of characters (Speidel, 108). Costumes have many cultural connotations. Juliet always wears light and white clothes that symbolize her purity and innocence. Also, we first see Juliet in an angel costume, so this first appearance makes us think that she is an angel like figure until the very end of the film. She even lies all in white in the church in her death bed. Moreover, the costumes that Montagues and Capulets wear have some differences. The young members of Montague family prefer colorful costumes with flowers on them. Since, they spend most of their time on the beach; their colorful shirts integrate with the beach, sea, and sun. Even the priest wears those shirts under his holy clothes. However, the Capulet family generally wear traditional clothes, and spend most of their times indoors. Their costumes show how protected and untouched they are. Their strict rules within the family are reflected in their clothes. They are not very natural, and they lead their lives as it should and must be; not as it is. In the ballroom, again the Capulet family is in old traditional costumes representing certain characters in history, but the Montagues and their friends are very extraordinary. For example, Mercutio- a friend of Romeo- wears woman clothes and dance very strangely on the stage. On the other hand, Lady Capulet is in Cleopatra costume that represents her glory and wealth. It is hard to see Capulets in such kind of strange costumes. Actually, at this point it is the very costume that shows her like this, because we do not know much about the wealth of these families to make such a comparison. Also we can just say that, Montagues are not as strict as Capulets. They do not have taboos, and they are easy going and this can be understood by their clothes. It does not matter for them to wear women clothes and dance in front of many people. Anyone can do anything that he or she wants. They even want to put an end to the fight between the two families, and forget all the past hatred.

The sound elements of the movie, especially the music, help to connect the difference scenes together and enable the audience to guess what will happen in the coming scene. It also makes a connection between setting and characters. The volume and the tone of the sound change according to the scene. In the movie, in the scenes where there is violence and fighting there is always fast music that goes along very well with the fast movements of the characters. When the Capulets and Montagues meet, the music also reflects the tension between them, and it reminds the audience that a quarrel is on the way. In the same way, the music becomes slow and romantic when Romeo and Juliet are together. Before they meet in the ballroom, there is a very fast music and everybody dances crazily, but later a lady starts to sing a slow song, and everybody in the room becomes silent. At this very point, Romeo and Juliet meet upstairs. They just look at each other, and the romantic music accompanies their romantic glances. It is as if everybody downstairs, felt the romantic atmosphere upstairs, and become witness to the love of the two youths. Being two enemy families means nothing to Capulets and Montagues in that scene. When the music starts everything slows down accept the love of Romeo and Juliet. There are just these two lovers in the scene. Everybody listens the music calmly and silently. Nobody moves except Romeo and Juliet. Only the love between two young people is in focus. With the end of the song everything turns to its usual situation. The dance begins again and people return to their entertainment. The song is a kind of leitmotif that marks this love.

Lights play a crucial role in the movie, and in the narration of the story. In a way, light symbolizes the love of Romeo and Juliet. They see each other as light that brightens each others world that is surrounded with darkness which takes its power from the hatred of two families. In all the scenes where Romeo and Juliet are together, there is light as a witness to their love and innocence. Especially, in the very last scene where Juliet lies in church, everywhere is illuminated with candles. Everything is so beautiful and charming. The twilight of each candle gets together and forms a big light that surrounds the whole church. On the other hand, there is darkness when the Capulets and Montagues fight with each other. Romeo kills Tybalt not in daylight, but in darkness. Only the darkness sees the blood and dead body of Tybalt. All the chaos ends when the day breaks.

As a cinematic code, performance has its roots in theatre, and the performance of the characters in the movie presents a link between past and present with the beautiful language of Shakespeare. Their language, costumes and performances all go hand in hand. Juliet's soft movements with light costumes connote her purity and innocence. She reflects her inner situation very well and there is no exaggeration in her actions. She behaves very naturally and does the things that her heart tells her to do. Her facial expressions, her voice and her gestures all connote that she is deeply in love with Romeo. She is so gentle and sweet, but also at some points very strong. For the sake of her love she argues with her father. In that scene, she leaves all her childish behavior behind, and stand still in front of him. Unlike Juliet, Romeo is reflected as a stronger character. He is also deeply in love with Juliet, and has the innocence and purity of love. However, he is also very brave and strong enough to fight with his enemies. He does not want to keep the hatred between two families, but events force him to do certain things, and he kills Tybalt. Afterwards, he calls himself 'fortune's fool'. He is bright enough to understand what is happening around him, what has happened, and what the role of fortune in his life is.

All in all, the movie Romeo and Juliet serves as a bridge between past and present with its universal themes. The movie brings the past with its plot and language to the present. It's a new scope to the general and widely known love theme of the play.

Bibliography

Lecture Notes of Dr. Sheenagh Pietrobruno in Film Studies Course. Fall 2007. Fatih University

Luhrmann, Baz. Romeo and Juliet.1996

Shakespeare, William. "Romeo and Juliet, Three Tragedies". The New Folger Library Shakespeare. Washington Square Press. February 2003.

Speidel, Suzanne. 'Film Form and Narrative,' in An Introduction to Film Studies (Fourth Edition), Jill Nelmes (ed.) (Routledge, 2007).Chapter 3

Zehra Samlioglu **

** Junior, English Language and Literature Department, Fatih University, Istanbul, Turkey zehra.samlioglu@gmail.com