E X T E N S I O N ROMEO AND JULIET THEN AND NOW! Romeo and Juliet was written in 1594, but its message is still felt today. this old play, in fact, has inspired many film directors and there are now more than fifty film versions of Romeo and Juliet, the first dating back to 1900. Some significant film versions of the play are, for example, george cukor s very expensive but magnificent 1936 production, Franco Zeffirelli s elegant and sensual 1968 film and Baz Luhrman s original 1996 interpretation. Baz Luhrman, in particular, produced a singular modern version of the play: Romeo + Juliet. the setting of the film is contemporary: the film was shot1 in mexico city, the action begins at a gas station and the montagues and the capulets are two rival gangster families. However, the language is very faithful2 to the original play written by Shakespeare, which creates a particular contrast. the role of Romeo was played by Leonardo Di caprio and the role of Juliet was played by claire Danes. Several other adaptations of the story have been made, like, for example, Romanoff and Juliet (a film inspired both by Shakespeare s play and peter ustinov s on cold war, uSa 1960) and West Side Story (a film inspired by a Broadway musical adaptation of the story of Romeo and Juliet set in the 1950s new york by S. Sondheim and L. Bernstein, uSa 1961). many other famous films, such as Shakespeare in love (1998) and Romeo Must Die (2000), use some other elements from Shakespeare s play: the first dramatizes3 the process of its writing and its first performance back in 1594, while the second is a martial arts film variation on the Romeo and Juliet theme. 3. dramatizes: adapts for the stage or scene. 1. shot: (shoot-shot-shot) filmed, recorded. 2. faithful: loyal 54