A Modern Version of Shakespeare’s Love Play ‘romeo and Juliet

The play of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ tells the tale of the romantic yet tragic love story of star-crossed lovers and the hatred between their parents, the Capulets and Montagues. In the play, Romeo shows courage, wit, and passion. However, his passion acts as a tragic flaw and causes problems that lead him towards his death. Juliet’s tragic flaw is her loyalty to Romeo as she was willing to die for him. Her loyalty was her strength, but it was also her downfall. Romeo is defined as a tragic hero due to his impulsive nature, and since he is driven by passion and ignores reason. He allows himself to be guided by his emotions, which consequence in great misfortune. In the play, Juliet retains an inner strength that enables her to mature before her age. She dared to defy her parents and marry Romeo in secret. When it comes to her relationship with Romeo, she is loving, strong, and loyal.

Baz Luhrmann created a modern version of Shakespeare’s play ‘Romeo and Juliet’ that generated strong reactions towards the movie. His film ‘Romeo + Juliet’ included intense passion and loss. Luhrmann had a level of flexibility in deciding to modernize the play; it could be because Shakespearean play may seem old-fashioned to present audiences or simply because he wanted to create something ‘new.’ Some did not like the modernization of the film because they believe it disrespects the original text, but the film managed to show Shakespearean verse to modern filmmaking, a classic tale that remained faithful to the original text for the new generation. The decision to keep the monolog gives the language a sense of richness that is still relevant to the modern audience. Baz Luhrmann created an entertaining movie out of a classic love story. Although it may seem unfaithful to Shakespeare’s original play, Luhrmann adds some clever touches to make it seem more entertaining and exciting while staying faithful to the original storyline. Luhrmann’s version of the play retains some freshness and creativity. 

Although the film is labeled as a tragedy, it carries more of the comedy elements. Luhrmann’s style is quite humorous, and the performances were bold and energetic. I believed that Luhrmann aimed to create a film that is enjoyable and fun for the modern audience without ruining the original text. Luhrmann reinvented the original text and gave us a modern film that embodies Shakespeare’s vision of the play.