In 1996, Baz Luhrmann defended his blockbuster film Romeo+Juliet, saying, "Everything that's in the movie is in the play. Violence, murder, lust, love, poison, even drugs that mimic death. - It’s all in there. It's just that we have come to associate productions of 'Romeo and Juliet' with a certain style”. It has been considered that perhaps Romeo+Juliet is an example of a triumph of style over content, in the worst possible way. However, it considers the universal truths from Shakespeare’s play and recontextualises them by incorporating colour and pop culture to appeal to a modern audience. Luhrmann believed that Shakespeare was a “rambunctious, sexy, violent and entertaining storyteller”. These characteristics of Shakespeare’s literature
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Romeo and Juliet are described as “a pair of star-cross'd lovers” in the prologue, which introduces the idea of fate in the text. The lover’s relationship is idealistic and the audience is given the impression that there is some supernatural power not allowing their relationship to succeed. In Luhrmann’s version, he has integrated the idea of fate by having the prologue news report and trailer like style clip, with a dramatic voice over, showing the fate of the characters before the story line begins. When Romeo hears the news that Juliet has ‘died’, he proclaims “Then I defy you, stars,” Luhrmann intensifies this reference to uncontrolled destiny by having a long shot of the car rushing past the courier with the letter from Juliet. The music in this scene sounds like a heartbeat, creating suspense for the audience as they experience the dramatic irony of these events. Fate has been adapted from Romeo and Juliet by the use of timing in the scene, which is coincidental and leads to the death of the two protagonists. Luhrmann makes the idea of fate more convincing to a moderns audience by using modern media and pop culture to express the influence of fate on the
Romeo and Juliet are described as “a pair of star-cross'd lovers” in the prologue, which introduces the idea of fate in the text. The lover’s relationship is idealistic and the audience is given the impression that there is some supernatural power not allowing their relationship to succeed. In Luhrmann’s version, he has integrated the idea of fate by having the prologue news report and trailer like style clip, with a dramatic voice over, showing the fate of the characters before the story line begins. When Romeo hears the news that Juliet has ‘died’, he proclaims “Then I defy you, stars,” Luhrmann intensifies this reference to uncontrolled destiny by having a long shot of the car rushing past the courier with the letter from Juliet. The music in this scene sounds like a heartbeat, creating suspense for the audience as they experience the dramatic irony of these events. Fate has been adapted from Romeo and Juliet by the use of timing in the scene, which is coincidental and leads to the death of the two protagonists. Luhrmann makes the idea of fate more convincing to a moderns audience by using modern media and pop culture to express the influence of fate on the