Romeo and Juliet - The Movie :: Movie Film comparison compare contrast

Romeo and Juliet - The Movie The new release of Romeo and Juliet is fun, fast and exciting to watch. It is a slick cinematic rendition of Shakespeare's work brought to the screen for contemporary movie-goers. There is something for everyone in this movie. A timeless story, a dynamic cast, a hip soundtrack, great sets and costumes and plenty of action. From the beginning the audience is told," buckle up, this Romeo and Juliet ride is going to be like no other Shakespeare you've ever ridden." This movie supports the notion that the stage is an actor's medium and the cinema is the director's. Romeo and Juliet is a feast for the eyes and does a great job of engaging the audience with the story at all times through various cinematic techniques and tricks which make understanding Shakespeare fun, interesting, fresh and easy. Visually dynamic, and edited with a sense of urgency, most movie-goers will get caught up in the story and forget that they are listening to the Bard. It is Shakespeare's words and text, however, the sights and sounds are as clearly, possibly overshadowing, telling the same parallel story. One could say that there are visually emotional subtitles throughout the movie directing the audience to understand and engage in the most famous love story in an entirely new way. One can argue that this version of Romeo and Juliet would be understood even without spoken words. The camera-work tells the story as clearly as the text. There are very few moments in this movie when the camera stops moving. Like Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers the editing is fierce and in your face. There is little time to think as the perpetual images flash across the screen. And it works. You become entranced and cannot wait to see what happens next even if you are already familiar with the story. It feels new. Like many contemporary Shakespeare productions, the text has been slightly edited but this does nothing to dilute the story. The dialogue, for the most part, is not delivered by master thespians, rather, we hear contemporary film actors delivering the Bard's words as though this were present day English in New York or Los Angeles.