Director of ""Romeo Must Die"" Andrzej Bartkowiak reveals his thoughts behind the transformation of the Shakespearian classic, """Romeo and Juliet""".
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I have forever had a fascination with the Shakespearian play ""Romeo and Juliet"". It has been a dream of mine since I was in High School to direct a transformation of the classic play. I used my knowledge of the techniques and factors that were relevant during Elizabethan times and which Shakespeare included in ""Romeo and Juliet"" to develop a modern transformation of the play, the film ""Romeo Must Die"". In developing the transformation I took the differences and similarities between the two societies into consideration: the changes in values in issues, the relevance of the setting in the text, characterisation and the difference in use and existence of language and techniques. .
Living in Han's world would be in total contrast to living in Romeo's. In this modern society money equals power and all are forever striving to achieve this power. The ancient grudge that is presented in ""Romeo and Juliet"" is never openly identified, however in ""Romeo Must Die"" it is obvious from the opening scene that the hatred between the two family groups is fuelled almost entirely by the desire from wealth, power and ultimately, the land on the waterfront. There are other relevant issues however, such as the ethnic relations of the Chinese and African Americans, as well as the role of honour and trust. I have altered the relevance of the grudge to reflect my opinion that today's society is, in the majority, a great deal more money hungry than that of Shakespeare's time. This is reflected by the way that money has the power to determine who has the overruling authority. The degree of violence in ""Romeo and Juliet"" is also an aspect I have changed in my adaptation. Violence is both a social issue and a value of the people depicted in ""Romeo Must Die""; and it is widely accepted in the community as the ultimate way of showing strength, power and authority.
