Providing up-to-date coverage of screen versions of Romeo and Juliet, this book encompasses a broad range of media from canonical movies to web series. The chapters, written by internationally recognized scholars, revisit well-known films and TV productions, while also exploring free retellings and introducing appropriations from around the globe.

Examination Thesis from the year 2002 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,3 (A), University of Trier (English Department Trier), language: English, abstract: The paper is organised in three main parts, theoretics, application and evaluation. The first part will deal with issues necessary to fully apprehend Shakespearean moviemaking. I will examine the history of it and explain what made the two films discussed herein possible and what eventually led to them. Furthermore, I will depict the two directors’ different backgrounds and how they lead on to their individual styles. I will consider some other films that have paved the way for Zeffirelli and Luhrmann. A chapter is dedicated to the filmic realisation, which will consider the cuts, rearrangements and general approach of the films and their directors. These issues will be confirmed by the secondary literature used herein. The second part will apply these issues to single and in my opinion particularly revealing film-scenes, which will be examined to perceive Zeffirelli’s and Luhrmann’s access to the characters, early and latter scientific reception and how Zeffirelli’s approach might differ due to the times his motion picture was made in and how both may or may not have succeeded in mirroring its times. The second part will thus rely on my interpretation and less on secondary literature. The third part will try to bring these perceptions to a conclusive evaluation. These are subjective and thus liable to objection. They cannot be universally valid, but since I am dealing with art, nothing is. Luhrmann was obviously firmly affected by Zeffirelli’s work, and moreover used it as a guiding line for his film, which gives rise to the question, if he was merely an epigone, or maybe rather struck by Zeffirelli’s scenic ideas as being plausible and practical. This is a question which I shall seek to respond to, if I cannot answer it, in the progress of this paper. Furthermore, I will try to point out Morris’s2 dictum, that Shakespeare movies are an art form and a genre in their own right and should not be confused with or compared to a theatrical production of Shakespeare, but have an aesthetic language of their own. [...] 2 Morris, Peter. Shakespeare On Film. Canadian Film Institute/Institut canadien du film. Ottawa: 1972

Pre-University Paper from the year 2014 in the subject Didactics for the subject English - Literature, Works, grade: 15, , language: English, abstract: “O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?“ This quote might be the most famous one from the love story of Romeo and Juliet. It is known by many people around the globe and translated into various languages. It is also known, that the tragedy deals with the ideal of true love and attends to the contact with insurmountable disparities. Down to the present day they are numerous variations of the original plot, for instance in ballet, classic theatre or movies. The tragedy ́s popularity is not deniable, and wittingly or unwittingly the story seems familiar to almost every reader or viewer. This has the cause that in almost everybody ́s life there is or was at least one point, where most of the people can relate their personal love-fate to this of Romeo ́s and Juliet ́s; A loving couple separated by the hate-filled relationship of their families. At that point, it is nonessential if the separating barrier is represented by parental home, origin, social class, religion, or financial background. Due to this, Romeo and Juliet still is of current interest and affects readers emotionally even centuries after its publishing. This is, for me personally, fascinating, and I want to research into the play to understand Shakespeare ́s way of thinking and intentions as well as to explore the limitations and possibilities when it comes to transfer this demanding work by Shakespeare into twenty-first century scenarios.

From canonical movies to web series, this volume illuminates myriad forms of Romeo and Juliet on screen around the world.

Award-winning director Baz Luhrmann ("Strictly Ballroom) has updated Shakespeare's classic tragedy of young love and teen suicide in a unique new film, in which the warring Capulets and Montagues are gangsters who carry guns instead of swords. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio ("What's Eating Gilbert Grape, The Basketball Diaries) and Claire Danes ("My So-Called Life, Little Women) as the doomed lovers, the film is set in a modern city. The actors speak Shakespeare's words--but with their own American accents. Readers can now experience this new vision of Shakespeare's violent, tragic play alongside the Bard s original text, in a special single volume that features an introduction by the film's director.

A Study Guide for William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" (film entry), excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Drama for Students.This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Drama for Students for all of your research needs.

Romeo and Juliet is one of the greatest love stories of all time. Now, comes the musical film version, with twenty-four original songs, new characters, scenes, and dialogue, that breathes fresh life into the story for the modern twenty-first century theater lover.

Essay from the year 2015 in the subject Communications - Movies and Television, grade: 1,0, University of Brighton, language: English, abstract: Baz Luhrmann’s "William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet" (1996) retells the famous story of Romeo and Juliet who fall in love but cannot be together due to their families’ old feud. In many English literature lessons this film adaptation is popular to familiarize people with William Shakespeare’s plays and language. Due to the juxtaposition of Shakespeare’s words, fast colourful pictures and teenage stars such as Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes the director Baz Luhrmann claims this adaptation to be an “Elizabethan interpretation of Shakespeare”. Adapted to the modern Zeitgeist Luhrmann staged a combination of an updated version of the classic in a multimedia time and preserved traditional essential elements such as the language and main themes. The adaptation lets the cast speak the Shakespeare’s original text and combines it with fast modern video art. The combination of the Elizabethan English language and the recontextualisation of the classic love story with news, TV, swords as guns, advertisements, and ecstasy led Jane Maslin, a reviewer form the NY Times, to remark “[t]his is headache Shakespeare, but there's method to its madness“. The adaptation is widely recognized to be postmodern. This does not seem to coincide with Luhrmann’s aspiration of an “Elizabethan adaptation” of the classic dramatic love story. So the question arises: Can a postmodern interpretation be an “Elizabethan interpretation” at the same time?

The Screen Adaptations series provides an in-depth look at how classic pieces of literature have been adapted for screen. It assesses the ways in which alternative screen interpretations offer up different readings of the original text as well as the methodologies and approaches of filmmakers. Each title in the series collects together a vast array of study material, critical insight and thought-provoking comparisons - from literary context to the afterlife of the screen versions. Shakespeare on Film is a huge area of study and Romeo and Juliet is one of his most popular plays with many teachers using film versions as a way of approaching the text. Focussing in the main on West Side Story and Baz Lurhmann's Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet, this is a unique and comprehensive insight into the adaptation process providing a vital study aid for students.