Product: Romeo and Juliet [Region 2] (1968)
Rating: 4.0
The best interpretation of this work so far...!
As far as I know, Zefferelli has maybe one badly reviewed film to his name: "Tea With Mussolini". Everything else the man has done has been praised to the skies and been worthy of it. If you don't believe me, rent this movie or "La Traviata" and you'll see why! His version of this famous story is the film that gave birth to that reputation.Shakespeare's "Romeo & Juliet" is the 'quotemeister' for me amongst his plays. "Hamlet", of course, has quite a few memorable ones, and most often is the one quoted. however, R&J; is BRIMMING with bon mots! Voila:"Drawn...?! And talk of peace?! I hate the word.""I tell you, he who lays hold of her, shall have the chinks!""Sweetmeats tainted are!""Who is Tybalt? Better then King of Cats, I'll wager!""I move for no man's pleasure, I!""T'is not so wide as a church door, nor as deep as a well, but t'is enough, t'will suffice!""Come back tomorrow, and you will find me a grave man....!""I AM FORTUNE'S FOOL!!""This day is black feint!""PUNK RAMPANT!!""I know better men than him, and twenty such jacks...""Now...hie thee home....FRAGMENT!""What's in a name? A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet....""Give me a case to put my visage in!""True...I talk of dreams, which are the children of an idle brain...""She doth teach the torches to burn bright! She hangs upon the cheek of night, like a rich jewel in an ethiop's ear!"I could go on for paragraphs listing all the great turns of phrase in this play/film, something Shakespeare was known for, but I'll spare you. Suffice it to say that the acting of all members of the cast is excellent, particularly John McEnry's Mercutio...he really couldn't have been a better choice for the role, as the jester among the Montagues. Olivia Hussey's Juliet is an elfin, delicate beauty that most fellas would give their left arm for, especially Italian fellas at the edge of the Middle Ages! Pat Heywood's Nurse is excellent...somehow, her exuberant and natural reading of the role allows you to ignore the fact that her rather strong cockney accent should be out of place in 17th century Verona. Michael York's Tybalt is great! The way he is made up, he resembles a mischievous young bull minus the horns, just the right look for the contentious, troublemaking character. The one SLIGHTLY weak spot seems to be Leonard Whiting as Romeo...he seems too plastic, too pretty...too perfect looking for a roughhousing teenage boy fascinated with the sweet young Juliet.He is, however, light years better in the role than the weak presence cast in the OTHER prominent version of the story, the Norma Shearer/Leslie Howard version done in the 30s. Except for Shearer, who is a revelation in WHATEVER she's in, this version was a casting director's NIGHTMARE! Howard was a TRULY wimpy Romeo, totally unbelievable; John Barrymore was a 50 yr. old Mercutio and looked it, and, (and I have no idea who the casting director was who made THIS mistake,) Andy Devine was cast as a prominent supernumerary! That's Andy Devine, as in "Pluck your magic twanger, Froggy!" If it hadn't been for the presence of Ms. Shearer in this cast as Juliet and for the excellent B&W; cinematography, the movie would be completely unwatchable. As it stands now, it's camp joke that should fuel Saturday night giggle parties for every university drama class you can name from here until Gabriel blows his horn!Zefferelli's film was immensely popular for its time, making something like $40,000,000, if I'm not mistaken, in its initial release. It is beautifully staged, cast, acted and researched and can still hold an audience 36 years after the fact! The script seems to be written in a style very faithful to that of Shakespeare's own and the actors' turns of these phrases are expert in just about every case.Nowhere in the world of filmed period plays will you see a better production than this geniune 60s phenomonon, (except for maybe "Amadeus", "The Lion in Winter" or "Excalibur"). Buy it or rent it...you will enjoy it.