Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet, like it's successor is also rife with symbolism. The symbols, just like they did in Moulin Rouge, help to support the storyline, further connecting the viewer with the characters and helping them to understand consciously and subconsciously.
This film uses water as it's leading symbol. Water represents purity and cleanliness along with an escape from the hustling and bustling Verona Beach where the film is set.
The first time we meet Juliet her face is entirely immersed in water, she has her hair floating all around her and no make up, suddenly the hot, orange, busy city we have just sped through is forgotten and we are relaxed, almost peaceful, the water calms us. It also provides a distinction between Juliet and everything else. Through the symbolism Juliet's naivety come through, she is seen as young and untouched by the outside world. Romeo finds himself in a similar position later on in the film, he hopes to clear his mind by dunking his head under water, like Juliet he leaves his eyes open and his hair free flowing. These two scenes connect the lovers, their innocence, their need to escape, the similarity despite their backgrounds, the water is the bridge between them.
Water is not only used for the two separately but in their first meeting through the fish tank. Immediately the 'fish tank world' takes the viewer away from the commotion of the party especially as the sound also dies away. The two watch each other through the tank, the camera switching back and forth, the water both separating and connecting them.
Shortly after the couple escape the party to the Capulet's pool. Disappearing into the water the couple find their own haven away from their family's hate. The water becomes innocent and romantic. Movement slowed and made graceful under the surface, the havoc above forgotten, they hold tight to each other and passionately kiss. Their secret underwater haven, a place where their love is not forbidden.
Yet as the film continues on, the water world becomes threatened, especially after Romeo and Juliet are married. It's as though nothing can stand between them and their star-crossed future. At the stand off between the Capulets and the Montagues, Romeo kills Tybalt, who falls into the water, the blood flows into the water, symbolically Romeo and Juliet's relationship now has no hope, it is tainted, polluted by the deaths and the family's hatred. After Tybalts death everything that the water represented between the couple is now gone, their innocence and hope thus resulting in their belief that death is the only way they can ever be together.
The symbolic use of water in the film solidifies everything we have seen as they film plays forth. It is a confirmation of what we think we understand and helps us to understand further without realising it.
This film uses water as it's leading symbol. Water represents purity and cleanliness along with an escape from the hustling and bustling Verona Beach where the film is set.
The first time we meet Juliet her face is entirely immersed in water, she has her hair floating all around her and no make up, suddenly the hot, orange, busy city we have just sped through is forgotten and we are relaxed, almost peaceful, the water calms us. It also provides a distinction between Juliet and everything else. Through the symbolism Juliet's naivety come through, she is seen as young and untouched by the outside world. Romeo finds himself in a similar position later on in the film, he hopes to clear his mind by dunking his head under water, like Juliet he leaves his eyes open and his hair free flowing. These two scenes connect the lovers, their innocence, their need to escape, the similarity despite their backgrounds, the water is the bridge between them.
Water is not only used for the two separately but in their first meeting through the fish tank. Immediately the 'fish tank world' takes the viewer away from the commotion of the party especially as the sound also dies away. The two watch each other through the tank, the camera switching back and forth, the water both separating and connecting them.
Shortly after the couple escape the party to the Capulet's pool. Disappearing into the water the couple find their own haven away from their family's hate. The water becomes innocent and romantic. Movement slowed and made graceful under the surface, the havoc above forgotten, they hold tight to each other and passionately kiss. Their secret underwater haven, a place where their love is not forbidden.
Yet as the film continues on, the water world becomes threatened, especially after Romeo and Juliet are married. It's as though nothing can stand between them and their star-crossed future. At the stand off between the Capulets and the Montagues, Romeo kills Tybalt, who falls into the water, the blood flows into the water, symbolically Romeo and Juliet's relationship now has no hope, it is tainted, polluted by the deaths and the family's hatred. After Tybalts death everything that the water represented between the couple is now gone, their innocence and hope thus resulting in their belief that death is the only way they can ever be together.
The symbolic use of water in the film solidifies everything we have seen as they film plays forth. It is a confirmation of what we think we understand and helps us to understand further without realising it.