Romeo and Juliet
Jun. 17th, 2008 11:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shesanowheregirlDear f-list,
Is anyone familiar with theatre precedents? In every version of Romeo and Juliet I've seen, the Montagues all wear blue, while the Capulets wear red. I didn't know if there were set rules, or if this was a just a coincidence.
I saw it first in the French musical Roméo et Juliette: La haine et l'amour.
The Montagues and the Capulets
The Capulets (during Tybalt's "My Life Sucks" song)
Mercutio, Romeo and Benvolio (during their "Kings of the World" song)
Mercutio, Benvolio and the Nurse
The other two adaptions I saw it obviously used in were Romeo X Juliet, the 2007 anime, and Shakespeare in Love.
Romeo X Juliet
Fight scene during the premiere of "Romeo and Juliet" in Shakespeare in Love
However, I had to search a little more in the most famous versions, the 1968 Franco Zeffirelli Romeo and Juliet and the 1996 Baz Luhrmann Romeo + Juliet.
I couldn't find any screencaps of the rest of the families in the 1968 version, but the costumes at least in this scene still fit the pattern.
I may be grasping at straws for the 1996 version, but I found a few scenes with the costumes that hold up to this possible theme.
The place I saw it the most was in the family companies, which are colored red and blue in their signs.
Tybalt in red.
Romeo and the Nurse.
Finally, West Side Story also favored reds and blues.
Jets (Capulets) on the left and Sharks (Montagues) on the right. WSS diversified their palette, though, with the Jets in reds and purples and the Sharks in blues and yellows.
My other observation was Juliet in white. This makes sense theatrically because she is supposed to represent purity, etc., but I found this trend in all versions except the 2007 anime, but that is because I've only seen the first 2 episodes.
And, due to my inability to find stills from this movie, I give you the balcony scene, in which you can see her white dress clearly 30 seconds in.
Is anyone familiar with theatre precedents? In every version of Romeo and Juliet I've seen, the Montagues all wear blue, while the Capulets wear red. I didn't know if there were set rules, or if this was a just a coincidence.
I saw it first in the French musical Roméo et Juliette: La haine et l'amour.
The Montagues and the Capulets
The Capulets (during Tybalt's "My Life Sucks" song)
Mercutio, Romeo and Benvolio (during their "Kings of the World" song)
Mercutio, Benvolio and the Nurse
The other two adaptions I saw it obviously used in were Romeo X Juliet, the 2007 anime, and Shakespeare in Love.
Romeo X Juliet
Fight scene during the premiere of "Romeo and Juliet" in Shakespeare in Love
However, I had to search a little more in the most famous versions, the 1968 Franco Zeffirelli Romeo and Juliet and the 1996 Baz Luhrmann Romeo + Juliet.
I couldn't find any screencaps of the rest of the families in the 1968 version, but the costumes at least in this scene still fit the pattern.
I may be grasping at straws for the 1996 version, but I found a few scenes with the costumes that hold up to this possible theme.
The place I saw it the most was in the family companies, which are colored red and blue in their signs.
Tybalt in red.
Romeo and the Nurse.
Finally, West Side Story also favored reds and blues.
Jets (Capulets) on the left and Sharks (Montagues) on the right. WSS diversified their palette, though, with the Jets in reds and purples and the Sharks in blues and yellows.
My other observation was Juliet in white. This makes sense theatrically because she is supposed to represent purity, etc., but I found this trend in all versions except the 2007 anime, but that is because I've only seen the first 2 episodes.
And, due to my inability to find stills from this movie, I give you the balcony scene, in which you can see her white dress clearly 30 seconds in.
