In my  literary adaptions class, we watched the 1996 adaption of Romeo and Juliet, Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet. I had been forced to watch this when I was in high school due to studying Shakespeare and I remember finding the movie very strange as I just couldn’t get past the fact that they were speaking shakespearian in a modern time. However, watching it now I can fully appreciate how great the movie is (besides the fact that it stars a young beautiful Leonardo Di Caprio).

The film is directed by Baz Luhrmann and edited by Jill Bilcock, and what I failed to appreciate when I first saw the film is the amazing colours, vibrancy, sound-track, fast paced editing and composition of this film. As a volunteer at ACMI, in one of the exhibits is a section dedicated to Australian film makers and artists, including both Luhrmann and Bilcock. Having watched Bilcock’s video she states that editing is primarily a collaboration with the director, and that in editing Romeo + Juliet she worked closely with the director including helping choose and set up the opening sequence of the film which includes fast jutting cuts of the town Verona and the Montagues. I also loved that they used text with the opening sequence, as it is a lot easier to understand the plot of film especially when tackling a shakespeare adaption. I just found the editing so well-done I was surprised it flew over my head as a young teenage gal. I definitely want to watch more of Baz Luhrmann’s and Jill Bilcock’s collaboration such as Moulin Rouge and Strictly Ballroom, as I did read about Bilcocks dread in editing one of the big dancing scenes in Moulin Rouge which turned out spectacular.

I really enjoy watching films that are more creatively edited such as films like Scott Pilgrim vs the World which incorporate both film and text/animation/sound cues. I would definitely like to explore that further in the course and think more outside the box in terms of editing and trying to make it constantly interesting.

 

 

 

 

(Romeo + Juliet)