Romeo and Juliet

"Oh Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?" One of the most famous lines from William Shakespeare's play, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, is famous for the story line that draws you in with the tragic romance between two lovers from rival families. Between the family feud and the forbidden love, the audience can't help but fall in love with the two young lovers Romeo and Juliet. Franco Zeffirelli's movie of Shakespeare's well written play portrayed just the right amount of action and romance to do the original play justice.

Franco Zeffirelli created a vivid motion picture and incorporated Romeo and Juliet's love for each other exquisitely. Details such as lighting, camera angles, and the background setting of the film established the tone and created the amount of romance that does the original play justice. One of the main focuses of the play was to tell a tragic love story of two young teens who sacrificed themselves for each other. Shakespeare introduced the characters thoroughly and Zefirelli mirrored that in the film. Capturing the audience with the tragedies and action of Romeo and Juliet, Zeffirelli created a bond between the audience and the characters that Shakespeare developed in his writing as well. This similarity created enjoyment for the audience and made the film just as good as the play. The musical score that Zeffirelli used in the film added to the suspense of the events and kept those who watched involved in each of the characters' lives.

Shakespeare created Juliet to be a young and broken hearted teen in love who killed herself at the finding of her true love's death. When Juliet stated "This is thy sheath; there rust, and let me die.", we could see the pain and grief that caused the reader to mourn at the tragedy. Likewise, Zeffirelli created this same effect with the close up shot of Juliet as she stabbed herself with the knife. It displayed her pained expression as she stared at Romeo's corpse to try to get the audience's empathy. After both deaths from the rival families, the camera panned around the whole group and gave viewers the chance to see the hurt expressions from each side of the families while a choir of young boys sang a song in the background in a minor key. His incorporation of music enhanced the dramatic effect of the pain that the families went through upon the loss of their children.