Product: Romeo and Juliet [Region 2] (1968)
Rating: 5.0
Zeffirelli's adaptation is still the definitive film.
Romeo and Juliet (Franco Zeffirelli, 1968)Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet has long been considered the definitive film adaptation of Shakespeare's play, and is considered by a number of critics one of the thousand best films ever made. It took two Oscars, for cinematography and costume design (both well deserved), and was also nominated for both Best Picture and Best Director. Despite cutting the play to less than two and a half hours (and making some risky decisions therein, most famously cutting a great deal of the "...it is the east, and Juliet is the sun..." monologue), Zeffirelli captured, at least in my opinion, most of what Shakespeare was on about here. Another risky move was casting two young, untried actors in the lead roles, Leonard Whiting (whose career in film was surprisingly brief, after which he went back to live theater) and Olivia Hussey (who is, of course, still in the midst of a long and busy film career). They're backed up by a number of other young and equally talented actors who have since gone on to remarkable film careers, most notably Michael York (Tybalt) and John McEnery (Mercutio). The acting here is sublime; there's nothing else to be said about it. The passion and the pageantry are exquisitely depicted, albeit in a more subdued manner than in Baz Luhrmann's more recent film version (which, unlike most admirers of this film, I am also quite fond of).As an introduction to Shakespearean drama, I'm not sure there's anything to rival this. Wonderful. ****