Romeo and Juliet Speech By Ana Gracanin Its not the plot, characters, themes or costumes that brought

Shakespeare to such a success. His plays are not only famous because they have a great story line they are famous because of the unbelievable writing. Writing that lasted for ov er half a millennium, with words of the right sound, shape, rhythm, words lastin g forever! And these words have been highly applauded once more, in a film that re generates the classic story of Romeo and Juliet to a younger audience. Baz Luhrmann has created a sparkling rendition of Romeo and Juliet by modernizin g the context; appropriated for todays audience so they can understand and enjoy Shakespeares words, because what is Shakespeare? But pure entertainment: performa nces that would bring talent, pleasure and emotion to the audience. Shunned, as film that will dismay any lover of Shakespeare I have to disagree. Be cause despite the changes bestowed by Baz Luhrmann, his rendition does not renou nce the rich poetry of Shakespeares original work. There has been omission to bet ter suit his interpretation, and this is presented in cutting out scenes and lin es, but he has definitely kept those lines that are most relevant to the storyli ne. This unorthodox juxtaposition of modern context and Shakespearian dialogue d istinguishes the film from other remakes of this play. Any lover of Shakespeare would realize that in keeping with the spirit of both the play and Shakespeare h imself, this movie, as Shakespeare intended, is self determined, rebellious, ori ginal and about the impetuousness of youth. Criticized as a desperate attempt to update and make it relevant, Well I beg to di ffer! The use of mis-en-scene in the prologue is brilliant! The TV news format a s an establishing shot makes the teenage audience become involved, as they are t he ones to whom the actor is addressing her words. This use of audience engageme nt make it hard to tune off, so by making it relevant to a younger generation, t hrough the News Reporter, its the opposite of desperate, its a clever and ingeniou s beginning that sticks to a most famous sonnet. Criticized as a mess from the in-your-face cinematography, I think this is complet ely untrue, because the quick paced, amped up drama give a whole fresh new look that entice the audience. Luhrmann uses mis-en-scene through "macro slam zoom" a nd "distorted out-of-focus close-up," these are extreme angles and camera moveme nts that gives the film manic energy. Also the use of placard and captions help to affirm the message, and refrain it from becoming a mess, and are used in the ne wspaper headings. Lhurmanns prologue uses non-diegetic at one stage through dramatic choir music. T his builds up tension and creates a nervous atmosphere. For every viewer a quest ion does strike up; What is the real setting of this film? The statute of Christ could be from Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, and some of the problems of the charact ers are actually present in South America at quite a grand scale. This is far fr om a mess, it brings forth serious issues as well as bringing dramatic insight o n the plot. The words new punk version have been used to describe this film, but its stunning visuals and sound make you think and feel, as well as jump and the movie could b e described as sharp, snazzy and startling, ending in an unforgettable chilling climax. This rendition is successful in portraying this tragedy and show that ev en five hundred years later, Shakespeares words can be part of modern every day l ife. The story isnt being lost; the words continue to live on.