Romeo and Juliet

Son needed to watch for an essay in English- this movie was made in 1968 so no over done sexual tones or nudity on this videoThank you !!

The difference between a Ferrari and a Miata is that, when the tail-light lens falls off of your Miata, you swear. When the tail-light lens falls off of your Ferrari, you carefully pick it up, wash it off in lukewarm water with a little dish soap, and go down to the Ferrari dealership to pay $47 for an original hand-made pair of Italian screws to replace the ones that vibrated out, and you screw it back on with the words "Thank goodness it wasn't broken."Why? Because a Miata is a mass-produced appliance, while a Ferrari is a hand-made work of art that has a soul. This film is a Ferrari, and it inspires nothing but awe and fierce, passionate love even as its tail-light lenses are falling off and its door handles are loose and its chrome trim obviously isn't perfectly straight. As an English teacher, I've seen this film approximately 35 times now, and I am still entertained by finding new technical inconsistencies in it. A list of them would be almost impossible to compile, but for example, Benvolio is stabbed in the eye by Tybalt's sword at the very start of the film, and something like five minutes later he is talking to Lady Capulet, completely unwounded. Tybalt repeatedly tells Romeo to "turn and draw," despite the fact that he isn't wearing a sword, and later Romeo approaches the tomb with his sword on, then enters it with the sword having mysteriously disappeared. Juliet is put into the grave with her shroud covered in roses thrown by grieving local maidens, but later when Romeo appears to pull the shroud away, the roses have disappeared. And it goes on and on and on through the film. Technically, from the standpoint of mere careful film-making, this film is an undeniable mess.And to my students and to me and to apparently hundreds of thousands of other people across the world, it does not matter one bit that it is. Like that 1960's Ferrari, this film is a flawed work of art - a work of art of such beauty, of such soul, of such passion, of such magnificence, that the flaws shrink into utter insignificance for all but the most anal and prejudiced of viewers. I'm not going to describe it here - that would steal from it and I couldn't do it justice. Just watch it, and if you have even a drop of hot-blooded youth left in you at all, if you aren't completely mummified, the film will explain itself. Watch it in the dark, on a big screen, with a good sound system. The music, the costuming, the casting, the setting, the lighting... all of it has that special stamp of beauty and art and aesthetic that Italy has long been known for throughout the world.The only reason I was tempted to withhold the 5th star was for how many speeches, scenes and lines have been omitted. All the basics are there, of course. The big scenes are almost complete. But Franco Zefferelli was obviously doing his best to avoid overwhelming a non-Shakespeare-reading audience with the Bard's admittedly challenging words, words which have the ring of heaven's own stamp and which I wish were there in their entirety. Juliet's speech while she is waiting for Romeo in her bedroom and her speech before she takes the sleeping potion, for example, have both been omitted - much to the detriment of the story in my mind. Otherwise, the excellent Leonardo DeCaprio-Claire Danes film notwithstanding, this masterpiece from 1967 is still the gold standard and Olivia Hussey is still the unchallenged soul of Juliet in the hearts of most of the world.

Franco Zeffirelli's "Romeo And Juliet" is the version that towers over all other movie versions of Shakespeare's tragedy. With good reason. This is "respectful and faithful Shakespeare" without being "stuffy Shakespeare." The actors don't act like, "Oh, here's my big speech. Watch me. Listen to me." Zeffirelli makes "Romeo And Juliet" accessible by keeping the story and the action moving. His masterstroke, of course, was casting 17 year old Leonard Whiting and 15 year old Olivia Hussey as a Romeo And Juliet we can actually BELIEVE in and with. Whiting looks exactly the right age for Romeo. Juliet is said to be about two weeks away from her 14th Birthday, so 15 year old Hussey is perfect! Hussey is lovely, and Whiting is absolutely some gorgeous dream. Whiting and Hussey play Romeo And Juliet as teenagers who can barely keep their hands off each other. They kiss, they touch, they feel. In short, Zeffirelli makes them real. He also, obviously, directed towards the strengths of his young stars with great understanding and sensitivity. It seems so simple: but teenage passions, as well as rash acts of behavior, play out more believably when actually played by teenagers. Hussey does give one odd line reading. When Juliet wonders, "Where fore art thou, Romeo?", Hussey puts emphasis on "fore", which seems strange to me. But this is an extremely minor quibble. Shakespeare never really makes clear WHY the Montagues and Capulets are involved in such a long feud, but Zeffirelli directs in such a way you understand immediately that the family feud is a danger to the entire city of Verona. The fighting scenes are all gripping and well staged. The scene where the entire city seems to meet in the public square around the dead bodies of Mercutio (John McEnery) and Tybalt (Michael York) is exceptionally powerful. Of course, comic relief is necessary. This is chiefly supplied by John McEnery as a clownish Mercutio. Par Heywood and Milo O'Shea are both excellent as the Nurse and Friar Laurence, who act as staunch allies to the young lovers. And boy, do they ever need allies. I'd forgotten how cruel Juliet's parents are towards her. When Juliet refuses to marry Count Paris, her mother says, "I would she were married to her grave." And her dad basically says he will disown her, deny her, and she can go die. No wonder the poor girl is driven to such extreme acts as sleeping potions and suicide. The Capulet crypt, by the way, seems like an extremely foreboding and frightening place. And I loved the "Romeo And Juliet Love Theme" sung at the Capulet masked ball. With lyrics like, "Death will come soon to hush us along" and "Cupid, he rules us all", it foreshadows the entire tragedy in a perfect nutshell. Of interest: There is some poetically beautiful nudity. We get a full view of Leonard Whiting's bare behind and a quick flash of Hussey's bare breasts, but it's nothing beyond a mild 1968 PG rating. The PG Rating, I think, was actually, for the fights and deaths. An unbilled Laurence Olivier is heard giving the opening and closing Chorus speeches. Olivier, reportedly, also dubbed in the dialogue for some of the Italian actors. This DVD is a beautiful Widescreen presentation. I was thrilled when I saw Christopher's Plummer's 1964 "Hamlet" from the BBC. I knew I had finally found the definitive "Hamlet." Now I need look no more for the definitive "Romeo And Juliet". Zeffirelli-- forever! BRAVO!

Ce film (1968) de Franco Zeffirelli est pour moi la meilleure illustration de ce drame illustre parmi les adaptations fidèles au lieu, Vérone et à l’époque, le Moyen âge.Il a du son succès à la fraicheur juvénile de ses interprètes principaux Léonard Whiting et surtout Olivia Hussey. Aussi à l’excellence du principal thème musical composé par Nino Rota et au fait qu’il ait été tourné en décors naturels.J’ai par contre déploré que la production ait cru bon de faire une version traduite en français de la chanson interprétée dans le film car celle-ci est incomparablement inférieure à la version originale.Honte à ceux qui ont fait les sous-titres de la version italienne originale : les dialogues ont été complètement réécrits (c’est hélas monnaie courante dans le cinéma) y compris le si beau texte de la chanson ce qui est une véritable hérésie et un scandale …J’en signale une excellente version anglaise « A Time For Us » chantée par Andy Williams.Ecoutez-là, c'est pour moi l'une des plus belles mélodies qui soient. Et elle m'évoque bien des souvenirs ...

Dirigé par Franco Zeffirelli. Deux jeunes amoureux, une fin tragique.

I BLAME THE PARENTS - Seriously though..., Shakespeare's brilliance and genius in all its glory! I first saw this film when I was at school studying for my CSE exams, (oldies will remember those, you did them before the GCE;s, which were taken a couple of years later) it was part of the English curriculum along with the just as popular film "Love Story" at the time. The English teacher took about 8 of us girls to see both films at Leicester Square Odeon (it was 8 bob I think just to get in, so no sweets at that price) and she had sat next to me on this one and squeezed my hand when I started quietly blubbering towards the end. Thankfully Mum had insisted I take a cloth hanky with me, I thought she was bonkers at the time and then I realised she knew me well indeed. I remember, I was as engrossed and mesmerised then as I was again today. This film will keep you glued to the screen even though the style of language might leave you frustrated and wishing they'd just speak modern English and be done with it. Whilst I understood what was being said and meant right the way through, I had to use the subtitles to keep in step so to speak with what was going on on the screen. But don't let that put you off, the whole production, sound, picture, story etc is excellent, with superb acting throughout, there are really no other words for it. In my world this is a MUST BUY and I highly recommend.

Cadeau de Noël de ma mère, qui souhaitait l'avoir en DVD. Elle me dit que le film est très bien (fidèle à l'histoire, costumes idem, on a vraiment l'impression de vivre à l'époque); elle est une grande fan de ce réalisateur.

若い時代の感動がよみがえった。