Romeo and Juliet on Film Lesson Plan | Introduction
Fortunately, for modern students, films of Shakespeare’s plays make understanding the story and language a bit easier. However, just because a film is named after one of Shakespeare's plays and credits him as a writer, it does not follow that the film will be Shakespeare's play. In fact, it is almost a movie-industry-wide practice to cut more than two-thirds of the text. There are several reasons for this practice, but the text is cut primarily because
(1) Cutting allows the director more freedom in presenting his interpretation of the text of the play.
(2) Most modern audiences are uncomfortable sitting through a film that lasts longer than 120 to 150 minutes.
It is important to remember that these films are interpretations of Shakespeare's plays, especially when using the films in a classroom. Under no circumstances should the films be used solely to teach the play. The films are, at best, a director’s interpretation for modern audiences of plays that were written to be performed in the theater.
These lesson plans are designed to follow the introductory unit: Introduction to Shakespeare on Film. These lesson plans are also designed as a supplement to the textual study guides and lesson plans that can be found at any of our eNotes to the plays
