Blog #4

Thus with a kiss I die

Romeo and Juliet, a play wrote by Shakespeare, tells a story about two star-crossed lovers whose deaths bury the strife between their two families. Baz Luhrmann’s version of Romeo and Juliet is one of the most classic adaptation. Various approaches were adopted in his movie to depict this beautiful tragedy more vividly. In the following, I will take a closer look at those differences especially from the Act 4 to the ending between the movie and the play. 

First of all, the original text has been edited a lot toward the end of the story in the movie. Even though Luhrmann’s version of Romeo and Juliet is a modern adaptation, it near perfectly restores every single scene that exists in the play in the former part. However, the film’s pacing gets quicker approaching the end, when I discovers that the duration of efficacy of the vail that Juliet uses to pretend to be dead was changed to “four and twenty hours” instead of “two and forty hours”. Then, from Act 4 Scene 2 to Act 4 Scene 5, most text was cut, and it directly goes to Juliet’s death, which also completely changes the relationship between Paris and Romeo. In the original text, Romeo kills Paris before he dies. Nonetheless, in the movie, Paris is the person who delivers the message of Juliet’s death to Romeo, and helps him to take one last look at Juliet. The bold revision made by Luhrmann here actually surprises me. I was afraid that the large amount of cuts would make the following plot become vacant, but later, I realize how the tense pacing of plots makes the tragic ending more prominent and shocked. Despite these obvious changes, some delicate changes set up by the director also bring the movie to life. For example, when Juliet goes to ask Friar Lawrence for solution to the contemporary severe situation, instead of trying to suicide with holding a knife, in the movie, Juliet points her gun to Friar Lawrence, and “threatens” him to help her, otherwise, she would die with him. Thus, Juliet was depicted more emotional in the movie adaptation, which is pretty effective. Because, the emotions added to the character makes me more empathize with Juliet and feel the extreme desperation within her situation. 

More than that, the strong ironic tone added in the movie is totally unexpected. It can seen from three specific details. Firstly, the letter sent by Friar Lawrence to Romeo instead of be delayed by the outbreak of plague in the play, it was returned because no one in the room. However, the ironic thing is that when the postman knocks at the door, Romeo is just standing a few miles away. But, the fate of the tease, Romeo just passes by the opportunity to be with Juliet. Secondly, the gun used by Juliet at the end to suicide was brought by Romeo. In the original text, the prop Juliet uses is the knife which was left by Paris or Romeo after their fight. However, there is a scene in the movie, after Romeo ascending the stairs to where Juliet lays down, he directly puts the gun next to Juliet’s left hand. If he does not bring a gun there, maybe Juliet would not die because there is not any other weapon in the church. And the most impressive and ironic scene that Luhrmann adds to the play is the last conversation between Romeo and Juliet. Originally, Romeo dies without knowing the great tragedy. Nonetheless, Luhrmann’s version lets Juliet wake up before Romeo dies, watch him drink the poison, and call him. But, when Romeo realizes that Juliet is still alive, it is just too late. He has drunk the poison, and the consequence is unrecoverable. The ending that Luhrmann recreates in the movie — Romeo just stares at Juliet, weeps and says “thus with a kiss I die” —  actually touch me more deeply. He now dies with despair for the ridiculous fate. The magnified irony highlights the great tragedy of their life, and makes me realize that how fragile we are while facing the unpredictable fate. 

From what I have been discussed above, Baz Luhrmann really builds up an effective and impressed version of Romeo and Juliet in a cinematic format. His choices of unexpected cutting and editing successfully depict a kind of emotional and ironic adaptation.