Deconstructing Romeo + Juliet @Static Mass Emporium

As part of Static Mass Emporium's continuing Deconstructing Cinema series, editor Patrick asked me to contribute another article on a film of my choice. After tackling some pretty grim films in this series in the past including racism dramas American History X and This is England, I chose something slightly lighter and definitely far more romantic for my latest article. This time I have tackled the moment in Baz Lurhmann's version of William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet where the star crossed lovers first lay eyes on each other through the fish tank.

It is such a brilliant scene that I could easily have banged on about it for way longer but one must stick to word limits mustn't one! Besides I don't want to completely spoil the beauty and romance of the scene by completely over-analysing it. Although I think I may have slightly. But still I hope it might make you take another look at the scene and possibly even pay extra special attention to the way it is crafted from the editing to the soundtrack to the lavish props, costume and set design. Not to mention the sweet performances of Leo DiCaprio and Claire Danes.

Anyway the blurb for it goes: "Take a drug fuelled trip into the decadent party of The Capulets in part 88 of Deconstructing Cinema with a scene from Baz Luhrmann’s bonkers but beautiful adaptation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet."

And here is the opening: "Love at first sight. If you believe in it, then Romeo And Juliet is filled with wonder, possibility and deep tragedy. If you fail to see how catching the eyes of someone across the room can lead to a piercing dagger right through your heart, then neither Shakespeare nor director Baz Lurhmann are going to make you feel otherwise." Please go read the rest of the article at Static Mass Emporium if you fancy it!

If you don't fancy the romance, why not try one of my other articles for Static Mass:

Deconstructing Cinema: Cloverfield

Deconstructing Cinema: La Haine

Deconstructing Cinema: American History X

Deconstructing Cinema: This is England

Analysing La Haine

La Haine is a powerful and unforgettable French drama about three youths, one gun and living on the outskirts of a society that hates you. I write about it a lot here at I Love That Film and elsewhere, having contributed an article to Media Magazine comparing it to City of God and most recently writing for Static Mass Emporium analysing the brilliant open ending.

If you have seen the film, please head over to Static Mass Emporium to find out why I find this to be one of the best film endings of all time. It might frustrate some but for others it will ensure that you can never forget this film and its cast of wonderfully conflicted characters. I start the article by arguing 'Open endings are a divisive tool that can leave an audience enraged, frustrated, gasping for breath, shocked, disappointed or yearning for more.' Hopefully La Haine's final scene will leave you feeling a little bit of all these emotions.

Check out my deconstruction of the final scene of La Haine at Static Mass Emporium here.

I also found the recent British film My Brother the Devil had many similarities with La Haine and I compared the two films in my review of My Brother The Devil at Filmoria here.

I teach about La Haine on A level Film Studies for the section on world cinema and we compare it to City of God and Tsotsi, two other powerful dramas dealing with issues of exclusion, poverty and violence.

Here is an exam answer on the visual style of La Haine, City of God and to a lesser extent, Tsotsi.

Here is an exam answer on the social and political context of La Haine, City of God and Tsotsi.

I wondered what would have become of the characters after the closing minutes of the film and in their futures in this post about making belated sequels.

I considered why La Haine is a must see film over at Filmoria.

Finally I named it as my second favourite film of the 90s and you can see my top 30 of that decade here.

In the future, once I get finished on my first book, I would love to one day write a book about La Haine but for now I will make do with writing about it as much as I can and for anyone who is willing to publish something on it. If you're a fan, let me know why in the comments below. If you haven't seen it, I urge you to. Forget the subtitles, the black and white and the lack of stars. This is cinema at it its best.


A2 Film Studies exam answers:

Using Critical Approaches to Study Fight Club

Is Fight Club a film about power and control rather than liberation?

Analysing La Haine

World Cinema: Distinctive Visual Features

World Cinema: Social and Political Context

WJEC A2 Film Studies Exam Practice Section B

A2 Film Studies Exam Practice Section B

Writing for Static Mass Emporium

In my continuing quest to make a portfolio of all my online scribblings, I am now moving from the interviews and news stories I have written for Filmoria to my writing for another fantastic film website Static Mass Emporium.

This site takes a slightly more academic but also personal approach to film criticism and analysis.  There are many different sections on the site including those on cult cinema, new releases, directors, and deconstructing cinema one scene at a time.  It is a great honour to be published alongside the other works on there.

The first ever article I had published was on the work of director Michael Moore and had already appeared in Media Magazine. This is the only article I have had published for the Director's Chair part of the site but I am very keen to contribute something on Danny Boyle in the future.

The article on Michael Moore is here.

I have contributed three articles for the Deconstructing Cinema section so far. The first was on the monster attack scene in Cloverfield where the statue of liberty is beheaded.  The next were on the open ending of La Haine and the dinner table scenein American History X.

Cloverfield

La Haine

American History X 

I have written some reviews for the Cult Cinema section mainly leading up to Halloween and focusing on some horror classics:

Night of the Living Dead

28 Days Later

Saw

For the New Releases section, I have contributed the following:

Grabbers

Safety Not Guaranteed
 

Life of Pi

End of Watch

Sightseers

The Hunt

And my first article for The Emporium section is a review of Dangerous Minds.

I will update this post as I have more articles published over at Static Mass Emporium.  For now head over and check out some of the other brilliant articles there.