Question 1. SETTING:Places
Where does the classical play and the new version take place? Example:
Verona vs Verona Beach . Where are they? Which century?
The first version of Romeo and Juliet was on the 16th century and the film was from the 21st century in 1996 exactly.
We can found Verona in Italy but the version of the film Verona is Verona Beach and it's on the south-est of Los Santos in United States.
Verona of Italy is very beautiful and all of it's very old. Verona has her old church, her narrow streets, etc.
Verona Beach is a new city with a lot of technology. We can see a lot of cars, high apartments, placards with publicity, etc.
Question 2.. IMAGERY: metaphors & images :
WATER (swimming pool, beach, aquarium...) and FIRE (petrol station, fights...)
DAY and NIGHT, the MOON. What do they mean?
In the film, water represents the love and fire represents the hatred between Montagues and Capulets.
We can see water in love scenes, when Romeo and Juliet appear, in the swimming pool, aquarium,...
When Romeo and Juliet see themselves for first time, there are an aquarium between them, and they fall in love for this first sight.
Another love scene is in the balcony, and afterwards, the wàter appears another time when they swim in the swimming pool.
We can see fire in the petrol station, when the fight starts: Montagues against Capulets. The fire represents the fight, this constant battle between the two families. In the dress party Tybalt wears a Devil dress, because he likes fighting.
Question 3.. LANGUAGE. Which characters speak in verse and which in prose? Who is the narrator?
In the book all of characters speak in verse but we notice more Romeo and Juliet because they speak more time. In the movie Romeo and Juliet speak in verse but the others characters speaks in prose.
Other people speak in prose because is the normal but Romeo and Juliet are different. It's possible shakespeare did speak the copule in love different for distinguish them.
In the book we don't know who is the narrator because is omniscient.
On the movie the narrator was the journalist who we can watch on the TV in the beginning of the movie and in the end.
Question 4. THE FANCY DRESS PARTY.What's the role of the costumes the characters wear?
In the fancy dress party, all the main characters wear a dress according to their attitudes.
Romeo wears a knight dress, because he want to win Juliet's heart, and he has an attitude like a knight. He is formal, respectful, gentlemently, loyal,... Juliet wears an angel dress, because she is a good person, very young, pure, pretty, she is innocent because she is only 14, Paris wears an astronaut dress because he is always in the moon, in hios world, he don't know anything about Romeo and Juliet's love and he is very innocent. Tybalt wears a devil dress because he is a bad person, he likes fighting, he likes to kill people, blood,... Mercutio wears a woman dress, and he represents party time.
Question 5. ELEMENTS. To make the new version, basic elements have been changed. Example: swords for gun
A lot of things are different between the movie and the film. On the movie the swords are guns.
On the film the characters when to the party with differents costums but they could go to the party with his face uncover. On the book is different and the persons who assist to the party had carried masks.
The clothes are very different too. In the book are all the clothes of the middle age and in the movie are of the contemporany.
The place are very different because the little house of the book we can see high buildings.
The transport pass the horses and carriage to a modern cars.
And the place where Romeo go when he was banished, in the book was another village with her church, her friar, etc. And in the movie Romeo went to the outskirts in a caravan.
Question 6. Other differences of the classical version and the film version
The differences between the classical version and the film version is the time, the period of time when the story happens. We can detected this diference of time in the petrol station fight, in the book the Capulets and the Montagues fight on the streets of Verona with swords, and in the film they used guns. The scene when Romeo meets Juliet, with an aquarium, the scne of balcony is a little bit difficult, the scene in the swimming pool,... When Romeo is banished from Verona, he goes to Mantua. This place is diferent in the book. In the film we can see a place like a desert.
