What is the importance of sound effects and music in Romeo and Juliet (1996)?
Not wanting to get all philosophical here, I have to take issue with both previous respondents. The first lost me at Shakespeare = opera. The second has a right to dislike adaptations and modern “reinterpretations” of Shakespeare all she wants. A literary purist would agree. But I think it’s a testament to this beautiful prose that, over 400 years later, it’s still being reinterpreted and in such avant garde ways. Baz Luhrman’s version preserves the original dialectical elements while putting a contemporary spin on them. Hence, the exaggerated, cartoonish sound and special effects. He’s not trying to be true to the bard’s play as it was meant to be seen on stage. He’s purposefully going over the top in his interpretation so as to make it clear this is an alternative way of presenting it. The prose therefore, becomes a point of stark contrast to the updated, modernized setting. Jazzing up the presentation with special effects modernizes it even more. But the tongue is placed firmly in t
