Romeo and Juliet (1996 vs. 1968)
 | Romeo + Juliet (1996)
Directed by: Baz Luhrmann
Starring: Leonardo DiCapiro, Claire Danes
DVD: R1-US Fox (2002, SE)
My Rating:
| |  | Romeo & Juliet (1968)
Directed by: Franco Zeffirelli
Starring: Leonard Whiting, Olivia Hussey
DVD: R2-DE Paramount (2003)
My Rating:
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It's been a few years since I had watched the 1996 version. I liked it quite well then, I liked it a little less now, but overall I thought of it as a movie where the good outweights the bad. Then I watched Zeffirelli's version.
Gasp.
It is mind-boggling just how much the older movie invalidates the newer one in every single aspect.
Both versions use Shakespeare's original language, and both downsize the play quite a bit to fit into a 2 hour movie. Both versions use young actors for the two lead characters: DiCaprio and Danes were 21 and 17, Whiting and Hussey were 17 and 16 (if IMDb can be trusted on BYs) when the movies were made.
Luhrmann puts the play in a contemporary Californian coast town called Verona Beach, with cars instead of horses and guns instead of swords. Highly stylized, shrill colors, almost comic-like. Zeffirelli chooses a historical setting and a subtle, but nonetheless vibrant color scheme. The costumes are dazzling and beautiful.
Luhrmann plays up the action, the conflict between the houses is more determined and violent. But besides his superficial stylization, which also turns the supporting characters in mere caricatures, he has no way of dealing with it when the conflict becomes deathly and Mercutio gets killed. Instead of a dramatic moment we get grey clouds and a storm, and as Romeo then kills Tybalt... well it starts raining, of course.
Zeffirelli does the opposite. The duel between Tybalt and Mercurio could end without bloodshed; it is an accident that it turns deadly. Since the fighting house members are characterized more subtle and the actors are more capable, they are able to convey the drama without weather changes. In fact, during the entire movie, moving from comedy to romance to drama, it always remains sunny in Verona. Btw, that doesn't mean that Zeffirelli's fight scenes lack dynamic - on the contrary, the camera even goes handheld during them.
A similar difference shows the depiction of Juliet's parents. Luhrmann, maybe in his attempt to appeal to a teenage crowd, makes the mother just a ridiculous person and the father a vile bastard. Zeffirelli treats them as real persons, who mean well for their daughter when arranging a marriage. The father threatening the daughter plays as a momentary loss of temper, not as the determining character trait.
What else? Oh, Romeo & Juliet. In Luhrmann's version, the moment were Romeo first spots Juliet through an aquarium is promising. Unfortunately, it goes all downhill from there. Neither DiCaprio nor Danes (nor most of the other cast) have any grasp of the language. It isn't just the American accent, it is such a forced and uninspired delivery that the romantic scenes never quite flourish. Danes is a little more convincing than DiCaprio, especially when she doesn't have to say anything and can just look dreamily or smile. Oh, and Luhrmann moving the balcony scene into the swimming pool doesn't help either. Yes, by MTV video rules, wet equals sexy. And by the same rules, one probably has to painfully avoid any nudity when staging the after-sex scene.
Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey on the other hand are a revelation. There is really no way for me to describe this adequately. They are so perfect in their roles, it is breathtaking. Stunningly beautiful, passionate and sensual, yet innocent at the same time. And they own every line of dialogue and make it sound just like a natural way to speak. And Zeffirelli matches this by choosing equally natural and beautiful settings. It also doesn't come as a surprise that Zeffirelli and his leads don't have a problem with nudity.
Much more could be said. About the score for example, and about many other things. It doesn't matter. If you have never seen Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet, go and get the DVD. It has been around for years and is probably cheap. You can't do anything wrong by buying it. Prepare for an eye-opening experience.
