Film adaptations of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet by Franco Zeffirelli and Baz Luhrmann

Abstract

In the second year of my BA Honours Degree in English I was introduced to the world of Shakespearean film adaptation by Dr. S. Catania. Attending the lectures on film adaptation made me aware of the value of filmic interpretation and inspired me to write my dissertation on the subject. Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is one of his most well known plays. Both Franco Zeffirelli and Baz Luhrmann's adaptations have brought Shakespeare's plays to a modern audience. In chapter one I provide a brief account of some theories on Shakespearean film adaptation in order to assess the worth of an adaptation. Also included in this chapter is a biographical note on the directors of the films which I chose. I decide to include this because I believe that they can help in understanding certain aspects in the films by knowing what artistic background Zeffirelli and Luhrmann come from. In the second and third chapter I analyse the way Zeffirelli and Luhrmann visualize the themes, images and symbols, of Shakespeare's play, on the big screen. In the concluding chapter I comment about which film achieves 'creative potential'.