Shakespeare's classic play about young love doomed by warring Italian families was brought to the screen by Italian director Franco Zeffirelli in 1968, with leads who were close in age to the characters (Hussey was 16, Whiting 17). The Montagues and Capulets are forever at odds in Florence, but Romeo of the former and Juliet of the latter fall in love and are destined to be together, even if fate and their families will destroy them. Zeffirelli made an intensely visual film: he cut half of Shakespeare's play and offered a sumptuous alternative that won Oscars for cinematography and costume design, and did more business than any other Shakespeare film adaptation for many years.
Click here to see the rest of this review...
The review of this Movie prepared by David Loftus
Timeless it is, and with Franco Zeffirelli's production in 1968, William Shakespeare's “Romeo and Juliet” became truly accessible to millions of teenagers, who finally could see
a Shakespearean production that not only could they understand, but they could identify with the protagonists! Casting two unknowns as the leads (Olivia Hussey and Leonard
Whiting), Zeffirelli nonetheless went on to stun the cinematic world with an enduring adaptation and interpretation of one of the world's greatest tragic love stories. Staying almost entirely true to the Bard's original version, Zeffirelli succeeds in grand fashion.
It is unimaginable that any American high school would attempt to teach “Romeo and Juliet” without using this film. It rivals “Hamlet” in being the most watched Shakespearean play.
The review of this Movie prepared by Bill Hobbs
