Romeo and Juliette - Comparing the Baz Luhrman (modern) ersion to the Franco Zefferelli (original) version

"Romeo and Juliette" by Baz Luhrman is a very different film to that of Franco Zefferelli's version. Although both are fused very closely to the original play by Shakespeare, Zefferelli and Luhrman have added their own changes to the original, Luhrman much more so than Zefferelli. Set in a modern time, Luhrman has a much more powerful substance to his film. While Zefferelli may have seemed radical in his time, Luhrman recreates the famous Shakespearean …

…as he begins the film as a romantic, naïve youth, and ends as a violent, aggressive man. Differences between Zefferelli and Luhrman's Romeo and Juliette are many, as one would expect when contrasting a contempory version and a traditional version of a Shakespearean play. Luhrman creates a much more powerful adaptation, appealing more to younger generations than Zefferelli was. Two films of the same play, and yet both are vastly different.