Today Romeo and Juliet the movie is being critiqued. Romeo and Juliet is about two teenagers, Romeo and Juliet, who fall in love with each other despite their family’s hatred for one another. The play Romeo and Juliet has been around since 1597 by William Shakespeare , so of course a lot of things have changed from the original telling of it. Romeo and Juliet was made into a movie in 1936. This production of Romeo and Juliet the movie has changed the story to be more enjoyable for modern audiences, but it is still not quite accurate to Shakespeare’s original writing.
The movie Romeo and Juliet stays pretty true to the actual play Romeo and Juliet even though some things are left out with most movies when plays are made into them, Romeo and Juliet is one of the few that follows along very close with its most famous lines still intact . Some parts that were cut out however include all of Act 1 scene 2 because this scene does not have much going on besides introducing characters, but after this scene Romeo does quote what he said at first from another characters perspective later in the play which would not make sense if this scene was not previously shown.
Romeo and Juliet the movie also combined Act 1 scene 4 with act 2 scene 3 which shortened some of Romeo’s mourning about his dead cousin, Romeo already knows that Tybalt killed him because he saw it instead of later finding out during Romeo’s confrontation with Paris. Romeo also did not display any affection for Rosaline while lamenting over her death in Romeo and Juliet the movie , but in Romeo and Juliet Romeo is very distraught over losing Rosaline even though he does not show this until after meeting Juliet .
These are small changes made to make things more smooth with most movies when plays are adapted into them, but overall Romeo and Juliet stayed true to its play origins. The most accurate part of Romeo and Juliet the movie is Romeo. Romeo is played by Laurence Olivier who does a wonderful job of portraying Romeo’s character exactly how Romeo was in Romeo and Juliet . All of Romeo’s lines are said accurately to the original text, but some things are shortened to make sense with certain scenes.
His facial expressions also portray Romeo’s emotions wonderfully at all times so nothing is missed while watching Romeo and Juliet the movie. Romeo did display affection for Rosaline before meeting Juliet similar to how he mourns her death after meeting her. Another thing that made him very accurate was his suicide, Romeo poisons himself which can be seen as rash behavior because he does not know what will happen when he drinks it, but this makes Romeo more realistic because many teenage Romeo’s would be more likely to do this if they were in Romeo’s situation.
Romeo is overall very accurate with his portrayal of Romeo, but some small things are slightly altered. Juliet also stays pretty true to the play Romeo and Juliet throughout Romeo and Juliet the movie . She is portrayed by Norma Shearer who does a great job at acting out all of Juliet’s emotions. All of her lines are said accurately as well which adds on to how close Romeo and Juliet the movie is to Romeo and Juliet . Some inflections are changed for certain parts but everything she says comes directly from Shakespeare’s play.
One thing that was not included is when her nurse tells Juliet about Romeo dying, in Romeo and Juliet the movie it just shows Romeo dying and then Juliet stabbing herself with Romeo’s dagger, but in Romeo and Juliet the movie Romeo actually just kisses her while she is sleeping instead of Romeo and Juliet kissing multiple times . These changes made for modern audiences make Romeo and Juliet the movie better to understand. Some dialogue was cut out like usual when plays are put into movies, but it does not detract from Romeo and Juliet the movie too much.
Some other small changes were made to shorten some things or make them more understandable for modern audiences such as changing “shall I hear more” to “what else did he say” during Romeo’s conversation with Mercutio before Tybalt came back mad at Romeo again. The only major change that contradicts Romeo and Juliet is that it shows Romeo and Juliet alone together after Romeo brings her to his fathers tomb instead of Romeo and Juliet kissing multiple times before Romeo leaves.
The only way Romeo would leave Juliet alone is if he did not know that she was alive, but Romeo did kiss Juliet before leaving which contradicts Romeo and Juliet the movie . These are small changes like shortening lines or dialogue but they do stray slightly from Romeo and Juliet , but overall Romeo and Juliet the movie stays very close to its play origins. The most inaccurate part of Romeo and Juliet the movie is Mercutio. Mercutio is portrayed by John Barrymore who does a pretty good job at acting out Mercutio’s character in Romeo and Juliet .
All his lines are said accurately but some sentences are split up to help Romeo and Juliet the movie flow better. Mercutio’s death is also portrayed fairly accurately because Romeo kills Tybalt first instead of Romeo killing Mercutio first which is inaccurate, Romeo should kill Mercutio after Romeo killed Tybalt . Romeo’s dream about killing Tybalt is cut short as well but it still gets the same message across. The biggest inaccuracy with Romeo and Juliet the movie is that Romeo mourns for Rosaline instead of Juliet after Romeo wakes up from sleeping in his fathers tomb.
If Romeo had just woken up from sleeping next to a dead person he would be very confused, afraid, etc. , but if Romeo was mourning a lost love then it makes more sense for him to wake up feeling so upset, Romeo would feel even worse if Romeo thought Juliet was already dead. Romeo and Juliet the movie stays true to Romeo’s character because Romeo is still so in love with Juliet after Romeo sees her but shows Romeo also mourning someone else which does not make much sense for Romeo.
The biggest inaccuracy in Romeo and Juliet the movie is how it portrays Mercutio before his death. In the play he talks a lot about Queen Mab and Romeo says that she will come to him in a dream then bring him news from his love interest Rosaline. This scene is cut from Romeo and Juliet the movie because Queen Mab goes away when there are people nearby, instead of when you go to sleep like in Romeo and Juliet.