Final Scene

As Romeo closes the main doors to the Church there is total silence contrasting from the loud noises
of helicopters and people shouting outside.

This silence is maintained throughout, as Romeo opens the door to where Juliet is, slowly being
consumed by lights of hope but also grief.

Darkness also reveals Romeo’s “lack of clarity of judgement”, as after all the chaos and news of
Juliet's death he is still confused and is unable to express his emotions clearly until he reaches her

The pace of the film slows dramatically when Romeo enters the church contrasting against the
scene before. This can also be seen in the changing pace of the sound, where the dramatic music all
of a sudden ceases. The slow pace also provides a dramatic contrast to the violent, fast paced action
that is inherent throughout the whole play.

Blue cross + Red cross, separated by aisle = feud between the families.

Sound crescendos with each step that Romeo takes. Music begins in a soft and mellow tone, but
increases dramatically in order to heighten the suspense and to keep the viewers in anticipation.
Contrasts with the slow, sombre mood of the scene.

In the scene flowers are evident all over the aisle that Romeo walks down. They are also thrusts over
Juliet’s shrine and nearly all of the flowers are light, summer colours. Symbolism of life and
happiness.

Shot of Juliet covered in candles, flowers, cross and Virgin Mary shows her purity and virginity.

The light is surrounding and centred on Juliet.

The masses of candles create a naturalistic light, a setting that should have seen the two lovers
reunited in joy.

The camera takes a shot from above where Juliet rests, conveying the loving and peaceful
atmosphere.

Juliet is wearing her white wedding dress and ring signifying reunion, innocence and fragility.

Romeo’s shirt is reminiscent of the Montague's which highlights their inherent separation that lead
to this event.

The candles and cross emphasise the mourning of Juliet’s death, with the help of religious
iconography like the cross and images of the Virgin Mary.

Romeo drinks poison from a "cup," a traditional symbol of female sexuality.

Juliet, in contrast, stabs herself with Romeo's dagger (gun) – a traditional image of male sexuality.
Garber argues that, symbolically, Romeo and Juliet combine physical death and sexual climax,
emphasizing their bond as they die together.
Liquid is one of the major symbolic features of this scene, symbolising fate and death as their love
for each other is sealed in the pool and now ironically it kills Romeo.

This moment of realisation helps to enhance the tragedy of the film, as Juliet touches Romeo’s face
as soon as he drinks the poison

Presents the idea that fate will not allow the two to be together.

The way Romeo's and Juliet's deaths resemble acts of sexual fulfilment doesn't really surprise us.
Death and sex are linked throughout the entire play (which you can read more about in "Symbols")
and Juliet does say that ingesting poison by kissing Romeo's lips would "make [her] die with a
restorative"

As Romeo consumes the deadly liquid in order to kill himself there is no sound, just silence. The
reason for this is to emphasise his death and that this is the end for him. It also implies that it is the
end of the ‘new mutiny’ and in some ways signifies the end to the vicious, age-old family feud.

The silence and lack of music that permeates the room as Romeo and Juliet spend their last
moments together symbolises the freedom that they are able to achieve while separated from the
rest of the their families. Afterwards, when Juliet commits suicide, the bullet sound rings out
piercingly, symbolising the final act that ends a feud that has lasted for ages. And at the end, when
Juliet has shot herself, she lays down beside Romeo, emphasising the fact that, in death, they can
finally be together.

Sound portrays emotions as Romeo and Juliet’s death is very contrasted:

Romeos death is prolonged, slow-paced and very timely. This is not just evident from the screen
shots but also because of the tempo of the music. Romeo drinks the liquid and it takes time for him
to react, this is heightened as the pace of the music decreases to a point where it stays low,
emphasizing the little time he has to live.

Juliet’s death is rushed as she reacts to the situation and shoots herself. The music is fast-paced and
staccato reinforcing the fact that she only reacted to Romeos death and shows how much she loved
him; she wanted to die in his arms.

During Romeo and Juliet’s death scene, there is a large statue of Mary behind the pair. This is yet
another example of the importance of religion to the two families.

Long shot of aisle leading towards the two lying down symbolises their path full of hardship and
hatred from the feud, eventually leading to death from the two most innocent from the families.

Shot from above makes it like it was God’s judgment on the Montague and Capulet's for their evil
deeds, overlooking them.

Shows authority of Prince Escalus and theoretically the only one who can keep them apart.

No sound but that of his voice, emphasizing the words he is saying.

The shot of just Romeo’s father and Juliet’s father with no “barrier” signifies hope for the future of
peace between the feud.
Gas Station Scene

In this scene, while the Montague boys led by Benvolio, Romeo’s cousin, stop for gas, they come
face to face with the Capulet boys led by Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin. A gunfight follows, setting fire to the
gas station and creating chaos in the city. They are reprimanded by Captain Prince, who threatens
them with death should such behaviour happen again.

The theme of conflict between the Capulets and the Montagues is one of the more important
themes explored in the movie. This theme is important as it is absolutely essential to the plot: it is
about two feuding families who are reconciled by the star-crossed love of Romeo and Juliet. This
theme is largely set up in the gas station scene.

One of the major ways that the director, Baz Luhrmann emphasises the conflict between the families
is by showing just how equal they are. There are many shots in this scene of Capulets which have a
corresponding Montague shot. One of these is the family crest! As you can see, both are of these
appear to be rather historical, suggesting the families are very powerful, thus emphasising the feud.
The contrast between the blue and the red, which are opposite primary colours further reinforces
the conflicting nature of the two families!

The two freeze shots of the respective family’s cars also help show the enmity of the two families.
Once again two different primary colours are used to illustrate the conflict between the families. We
can also see that the rims of the number respective number plates are red and blue, a reference to
the ongoing theme of conflict. Another point to note is that the Capulets have a sedan while the
Montagues have a convertible.

The shots of the Capulet boys and the Montague boys further emphasise the conflict between the
families. An interesting point to note is that The Capulet Boys is written on the left hand side of the
screen and The Montague Boys is written on the right hand of the screen. More importantly, the
music playing while these shots appear on screen shows the contrast between the families. On one
hand heavy western bass music plays while the Capulet boys appear. On the other, light hearted
street music plays while the Montague boys appear!

An important point about race is set up in the shots of the gang leaders, Tybalt and Benvolio. Tybalt
and the Capulet boys are all Latino while Benvolio and all the Montague boys are Anglo. This racial
distinction is representative of the feud between the families.

The longshot showing the Capulet and Montague skyscrapers on opposite sides of the city with the
religious statue of Jesus between them shows the domination of the families in Verona and the fact
that religion, like the law, is unable to restrain the feud between the families. It is also important to
note that once again the colour reference of red and blue for Capulets and Montagues respectively
is apparent.

In this image it can be noted that Tybalt and Benvolio are equidistant from the centre of the screen.
This symmetry shows the equity and the equal involvement of the families in the conflict.

The rule of thirds is used in this screenshot. By having almost exact symmetry, this shot has much
the same effect as the image I previously mentioned. However in this part of the scene, the middle
third is soon occupied in a different screenshot by Captain Prince. He represents the police, law and
the city in this case. By having Captain Prince in the middle of the two feuding families, it emphasises
that the whole city is involved in this massive conflict.

This shot of the city police helicopter further shows the large scale of the feud and the wide-scale
involvement of the city and police in this affair. The following long shot shows several helicopters
flying through the center of the Capulet and Montague skyscrapers, once again reinforcing the large
scale of the feud.

The shot of the newsreader reporting the incident not long after the incident emphasises the
immensity of the feud as it has brought chaos to the city so quickly.

This image of the fire that erupted from the gas station is symbolic of hate and conflict, directly
relating to the major theme being discussed.

Appropriation of the scene to a cowboy Westernised duel, is also used to emphasise the conflict.
One of the defining characteristics of a westernised duel is a shot of a random object nearby,
normally a plastic bag or piece of paper floating by, but in this case, the phoenix gas sign swinging
back and forth. This sign when shot later on in the scene also produces a metallic ping which is
characteristic of gunshot sounds in typical westernised duels. The whistling style of music, especially
when Tybalt appears, is another major feature of westernised duels that appears in this scene.
Moreover, the classic use of a match to light a cigarette, before being thrown on the ground and
crushed with typical metal heeled boots, occurs in this scene. Dramatised movements such as dives,
spins, pivots, pistol draws, tricks and pistol holsters are also used in the appropriation of this scene.

The theme of violence is another major theme that is explored throughout the film. The theme of
violence is important in Romeo and Juliet because not only does it contrast with the love of Romeo
and Juliet but also is directly linked to and sets up the idea of death which is an integral part of the
film.

This image is an example of how easily violence can emerge out of almost nothing. A little encounter
turned into a mass brawl with many arrests and much violence occurring. More shots like this one
showing more people getting arrested over brawling only reinforce the large scale violence that has
occurred.

A young boy at the gas station playfully points a toy gun at Tybalt and shouts, “Bang bang!” Tybalt
responds by pointing a real gun in the boy’s face, whose eyes widen in fear. The director, Luhrmann
makes a point of contrasting the innocent play of one boy and the dangerous threat of reality. The
Montague and Capulet boys became big children playing with their guns and acting tough, thus
emphasising the violence inherent in the society.

The screen shot of the sniper, and the following gun collage help to emphasise the violent and gun-
wielding nature of the society. Teenagers wearing Hawaiian t-shirts are carrying guns as if they are
mobile phones and more importantly actually drawing, loading and firing them at other people.

The word ‘sin’ imprinted on a piece of metal in Abra’s mouth, is representative of the evil and
violence that occurs. The Montague family crest itself also is highly symbolic of violence. The image
of a pistol and a skull in the family crest symbolise ideas such as violence and death.
Tybalt is a violent character and the best example of violence in the film. Before the audience sees
him, they see an image of the phoenix gas sign which says add more fuel to your fire. This idea of fire
which symbolises hate, conflict and violence is therefore linked to him. Soon afterwards, he drops a
match which he used to light his cigarette, causing a huge fire to burst out. This further associates
him with fire, and thus the ideas of hate, conflict and violence.

Irony and contrast are also extremely important in drawing attention to the violence in the film. The
screen shot of the pistol with Mary painted on the grip and Jesus on the shirt in the background is a
perfect example of contrast and irony. The innocence and holiness is juxtaposed with the violent,
ugly nature of the pistol, thus emphasising it.

The director uses all aspects of cinematography including sound, camerawork, acting design, editing
and symbolism to set up the theme of conflict between the Capulets and the Montagues and the
theme of violence, both of which are central to the film and its plot.