Romeo and Juliet (1968 film)

Romeo and Juliet (original English title: Romeo and Juliet) is a 1968 Italian-British romance drama film., based on the play of the same name by William Shakespeare. It is the story of two teenagers, whose irrepressible and overflowing passion places love above death. Their relationship is dramatically marked by the absurd and ancestral hatred that their families profess: the Montagues and the Capulet. The struggle to carry out their love will unleash a tragedy that will finally unite them in death.

This is perhaps the most famous film by its director, Italian Franco Zeffirelli, who tried to follow Shakespeare's original text to the letter. His desire to be entirely faithful to the work led him to respect even the real age of its protagonists, who were usually played by adult actors. Thus, Romeo and Juliet were played by a 17-year-old actor and a 16-year-old actress, the then unknown Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey. The film, in its purpose of combining romanticism and fantasy, included half-nude scenes considered daring for the time, and which the director considered logical and even necessary in a love story. The main tune of this film, "A Time for Us", achieved enduring success and continues to be covered by crooners (such as Josh Groban) and contemporary music orchestras.

In addition, Zeffirelli's experience in opera and theater was a friend and collaborator of Maria Callas, he was noted in the making of the film, very carefully in his artistic direction, in his color photography and also in his band sound, composed by Nino Rota.

Plot

Balcony of the House of Juliet in Verona.

One summer morning in Verona, Italy, a longstanding feud between the Montagues and the Capulet breaks out in a street fight. The fight is broken up by Prince Escala (Robert Stephens), who warns both families that any future violence between them will result in dire consequences. Moments later, Count Paris (Roberto Bisacco), meets with Mr. Capulet (Paul Hardwick) to have an idea of marrying his daughter Juliet (Olivia Hussey), but Mr. Capulet believes that he is still too young for marriage and he asks him to wait two more years from now, after which he would be 15 years old. Taking advantage of the offer, he asks Mr. Capulet to throw a formal ball to celebrate the event and Mrs. Capulet (Natasha Parry) and Juliet's nurse (Pat Heywood) convince her to marry Paris at the wedding.

Elsewhere, Benvolio (Bruce Robinson) talks with his cousin Romeo (Leonard Whiting), son of the Montagues, about the recent depression. Convinced that Romeo's sadness is due to the unrequited love of Rosalina (Paola Tedesco), Mr. Capulet's niece, Benvolio tells him about the ball that the Capulet had organized. Romeo agrees to go uninvited so he can meet Rosalina. That night, when Romeo is in there, he meets Juliet, they fall head over heels in love and the Capulets are deeply upset. Later, Romeo stumbles upon infiltrating the secluded Capulet garden under the balcony of Juliet's bedroom, and overhears her proclaiming her love for him, despite the cold hostility of the Montagues and Capulet, and the two exchange promises. passionate. They are secretly married the next day by Romeo's confessor and father figure Friar Lawrence (Milo O'Shea) and Juliet's wet nurse in attendance.

That afternoon, Juliet's first cousin, Teobaldo (Michael York), is enraged that Romeo had attended his family dance, insults him and challenges him to a fight. Romeo considers Tybalt as family and refuses to fight him, leading Romeo's best friend Mercutio (John McEnery) to fight Tybalt in his place. Despite Romeo's efforts to stop the fight, Tybalt severely wounds Mercutio, who curses the Montague and Capulet houses before dying. Enraged by the death of his friend, Romeo retaliates by fighting Teobaldo and ends up killing him. Romeo is later punished by Prince Escala with banishment from Verona, with the threat of death if he ever returns. Romeo, however, considers banishment from him worse than the death penalty, since Verona is the only home he has ever known and he does not want to part with Juliet. Friar Lawrence finally convinces Romeo that he is very lucky and that he should be more grateful for what he has. Romeo then secretly spends his wedding night together with Juliet and the couple consummate their marriage before Romeo runs away.

Mr. and Mrs. Capulet, unaware of their daughter's secret marriage, have arranged for Juliet to marry Count Paris. Julieta begs her parents to postpone the marriage, but they refuse and threaten to ignore her. Juliet turns to Fray Lorenzo for help, hoping to escape her arranged marriage to Paris and remain faithful to Romeo. At Fray Lorenzo's urging, she reconciles with her parents and accepts her wishes. The night before the wedding, Julieta consumes a potion prepared by Fray Lorenzo with the intention of making her appear dead for forty-two hours. After Julieta's death, Fray Lorenzo plans to inform Romeo about the deception so that Romeo can meet Julieta after her burial and escape with her when she recovers from her fainting spell, so he sends Fray Juan to give her a letter. Romeo describing the plan. However, when Baltasar (Keith Skinner), Romeo's servant, sees Juliet buried under the impression that she is dead, he goes to tell Romeo and catches up with him before Fray Juan. Desperate, Romeo goes to Juliet's grave and when he sees her dead, he decides to commit suicide by drinking the poison. Shortly after, Juliet wakes up to discover her husband dead from her. Julieta asks him why she didn't leave him a drop of poison and then, she sees his dagger and she kills herself by piercing her abdomen.

Later, the two families attend their joint funeral and are punished by Prince Escala.

Cast

• Leonard Whiting as Romeo Montesco.
• Olivia Hussey as Julieta Capuleto.
• John McEnery like Merciful Scale.
• Michael York as Teobaldo Capuleto.
• Pat Heywood as Juliet's nurse.
• Bruce Robinson as Benvolio Montesco.
• Antonio Pierfederici Mr. Montesco.
• Esmerelda Ruspoli as Mrs. Montesco.
• Paul Hardwick as Mr. Capuleto.
• Natasha Parry as Mrs. Capuleto.
• Roberto Bisacco as Conde Paris.
• Paola Tedesco as Rosalina Capuleto.
• Roy Holder as Pedro.
• Keith Skinner as Baltasar.
• Milo O'Shea as Fray Lorenzo.
• Robert Stephens as Prince Scale.
• Laurence Olivier as Narrator.

Dubbing voices (Hispanic America)

• Gabriel Cobayassi Romeo Montesco.
• Rocío Garcel as Julieta Capuleto.
• Carlos Rotzinger as † Merciful Scale.
• Luis Alfonso Mendoza as † Teobaldo Capuleto.
• Francisco Colmenero as Benvolio Montesco.
• Liza Willert † as Juliet's nurse.
• Pedro D'Aguillion † as Mr. Montesco.
• Escobar Teresite † as Mrs. Montesco.
• Maynardo Zavala † as Mr. Capuleto.
• Alma Nuri as Mrs. Capuleto.
• Pedro D'Aguillón Jr. as Conde Paris.
• Araceli de León as Rosalina Capuleto.
• Victor Alcocer as † Pedro.
• José Manuel Rosano † as † Abraham.
• Jacobo Holtzman † as Gregorio.
• Carlos Íñigo † as Baltasar.
• Germán Valdés "Tin Tan" † as Samson.
• Carlos Magaña as † Fray Lorenzo.
• José Lavat † Prince Scale.
• Victor Guajardo † Narrator.

Dubbing voices (Spain)

• Ricard Solans as Romeo Montesco.
• Marta Angelat as Julieta Capuleto.
• Rogelio Hernández as † Merciful Scale.
• Ernesto Aura † Teobaldo Capuleto.
• Javier Dotú as Benvolio Montesco.
• Elsa Fábregas † as Juliet's nurse.
• Rafael Luis Calvo as † Mr. Montesco.
• Roser Cavallé † as Mrs. Montesco.
• Felipe Peña as Mr. Capuleto.
• Maria Luisa Solá as Mrs. Capuleto.
• Manuel Cano † Conde Paris.
• Jose Maria Angelat as † Fray Lorenzo.
• José Luis Sansalvador † as Prince Scale.

Production

Franco Zeffirelli and Olivia Hussey during the shooting Romeo and Juliet in 1967.

Casting

It is often rumored that Franco Zeffirelli considered The Beatles' Paul McCartney for the role of Romeo. Although Zeffirelli does not mention it in his autobiography, McCartney provides many details on this subject (including meeting Hussey and exchanging telegrams with her) in her autobiography co-written by her.

The director participated in a worldwide search for unknown teen actors to play the parts of the two lovers. Leonard Whiting was 17 at the time, and Olivia Hussey was 16; Zeffirelli tailored the play in such a way that he played on its strengths and concealed its weaknesses: for example, long speeches were cut back and reactionary shots were emphasized.

Laurence Olivier's involvement in the production was by chance. He was in Rome to film The Fisherman's Sandals and visited the studio where Romeo and Juliet was being filmed. He asked Zeffirelli if there was anything he could do, and they gave him the Foreword to read; then he ended up dubbing the voice of Mr. Montague and various other roles.

Filming locations

Set in 14th century Renaissance Italy in different locations:

• The balcony scene: at the Palazzo Borghese, built by Cardinal Scipione Borghese in the 16th century, in Artenas, 40 km southeast of Rome.
• The interior scenes of the church: in a Romanesque church called San Pedro Somaldi in Lucca, Tuscania, 90 km northwest of Rome.
• The grave scene: Also in Tuscania.
• Scenes of the Capuleto Palace: at the Piccolomini Palace, built between 1459–1462 by Pope Pius II, in the city of Pienza, in the province of Siena.
• The scenes of mourning with swords developed in the ancient city of Gubbio, in Umbría.
• The film also has some scenes filmed in Montagnana.
• The street scenes: also in Pienza, and in Cinecitta studios, in the back of Rome.

Reception

The film earned $14.5 million in domestic rentals at the North American box office during 1969. It was re-released in 1973 and earned $1.7 million in rentals.

Famous film critic Roger Ebert (1942-2013), for the Chicago Sun-Times, wrote: "I think Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet is Shakespeare's most exciting film." ever made".

Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 'Fresh' from 94% based on 36 reviews, with an average rating of 7.9/10; is accompanied by the consensus: "The solid leads and striking visuals make a case for Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet as the definitive film adaptation of the play."

Soundtrack

There have been two premieres of the film's score, composed by Nino Rota.

"Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet". The film's love theme was widely reported, notably on 'Our Tune', a segment on disc jockey Simon Bates' British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) radio show. In addition, several versions of the theme have been recorded and released, including a highly successful one by Henry Mancini, whose instrumental rendition was a number one hit in the United States during June 1969.

There are two different sets of English lyrics to the song.

• The version of the film is called "What Is A Youth?", with letters from Eugene Walter and sung by Glen Weston. This version has been released in the complete release of the soundtrack/score.
• An alternative version, called "A Time for Us", with letters from Larry Kusik and Eddie Snyder. This version has been recorded by Johnny Mathis and Andy Williams, among others. Josh Groban played "A Giorno Per Noi", an Italian version of "A Time for Us". Jonathan Antoine, tenor with classical training from Britain, played "A Giorno Per Noi" as one of the themes of his second solo album, "Believe", which was released in August 2016. A third version is called "Ai Giochi Addio". with letters from Elsa Morante, and performed by opera singers like Luciano Pavarotti and Natasha Marsh.

In popular culture

• Thom Yorke quotes the film as one of the inspirations of Radiohead's song, Exit Music (For a Film)which was written specifically for the final credits of the 1996 film, Romeo + Juliet. Yorke said, "I saw Zeffirelli's version when I was 13 years old, and I cried, because I couldn't understand why the morning after they were thrown, they didn't escape. The song is written for two people who should flee before bad things start. A personal song».
• In the "Wayne on Wheels" episode in the third season of The Wonder Years, Kevin and Paul will watch the film in the cinema.
• Celine Dion made reference to this film, in particular the "handbail" scene, in the video of his 1992 single Nothing Broken but My Heart.
• The Japanese-sleeved artist Rumiko Takahashi referred to the Zeffirelli film in two of her manga and anime works. In one of the episodes of Urusei Yatsura, the malicious disturber Ryoko Mendou invites the male protagonist of the series, Ataru Moroboshi, to have a meeting with Romeo and Juliet, and dresses a dress based on Hussey's film. Later, the anime series Ranma 1/2 Takahashi presented a story in which the main characters, Ranma Saotome and Akane Tendo, are chosen as Romeo and Juliet in a production of the work in their secondary school. Takahashi designed the Ranma and Akane costumes for the play with the Whiting and Hussey costumes in the Zeffirelli film in mind.
• In episode 19 of the second season K-On!, shows that the characters Ritsu Tainaka and Mio Akiyama perform an art work on Romeo and Juliet. They wear the suits similar to those shown in this movie.

Awards

Won two Oscars in 1968:

• to the best photograph
• To the best wardrobe,

and had two more candidacies:

• the best director
• to the best movie

Other notable versions

• 1916 - Romeo and JulietWith the vampire actress Theda Bara.
• 1936 - Romeo and Juliet (Romeo and Juliet, George Cukor). Good version of Cukor about Verona lovers. First estimable adaptation for the cinema of this tragedy.
• 1966 - Romeo and JulietPaul Czinner, with Rudolf Nuréyev and Margot Fonteyn as Romeo and Juliet in an English film of the classic ballet.
• 1996 - Romeo + Juliet, by William Shakespeare (William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet, Baz Luhrmann). Starring Claire Danes and Leonardo DiCaprio. DiCaprio won the Silver Bear to the best masculine interpretation in the edition number 47 of the Berlin International Film Festival and Luhrmann was nominated to the Golden Bear to better film.
• 2013 - Romeo and Juliet (Romeo & Juliet) by Carlo Carlei. Starring Douglas Booth and Hailee Steinfeld.