Romeo and Juliet [Criterion Collection]

Director: Franco Zeffirelli Franco Zeffirelli

Overview

Director Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 version of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet was touted at the time of its release (successfully, if the box-office receipts are any indication), as something of a "youth trip" movie. This is because Zeffirelli broke the long-standing tradition of casting over-aged, sometimes grey-haired players in the title roles. Seventeen-year-old Leonard Whiting plays Romeo, with 15-year-old Olivia Hussey as Juliet. The youthfulness and inexperience of the leading players works beautifully in the more passionate sequences (some of these breaking further ground by being played in the nude). Among the younger players are Michael York as Tybalt and John McEnery as Mercutio. The duel between Romeo and Tybalt starts out as a harmless, frat-boy exchange of insults, then escalates into tragedy before any of the participants are fully aware of what has happened. Photographed by Pasqualino DeSantis on various locations in Italy, Romeo and Juliet was one of the most profitable film adaptations of Shakespeare ever produced. Its most lasting legacy is its popular main theme music, composed by Nino Rota.

Product Details

Release Date:	02/14/2023
UPC:	0715515282215
Original Release:	1968
Rating:	PG
Source:	Criterion Collection
Language:	English
Time:	2:18:00
Sales rank:	11,784

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Olivia Hussey	Juliet
Leonard Whiting	Romeo
Milo O'Shea	Friai Laurence
Michael York	Tybalt
John McEnery	Mercutio
Pat Heywood	The Nurse
Natasha Parry	Lady Capulet
Robert Stephens	Prince of Verona
Keith Skinner	Balthazar
Richard Warwick	Gregory
Dyson Lovell	Sampson
Ugo Barbone	Abraham
Bruce Robinson	Benvolio
Paul Hardwick	Lord Capulet
Antonio Pierfederici	Lord Montague
Esmeralda Ruspoli	Lady Montague
Roberto Bisacco	Count Paris
Roy Holder	Peter
Aldo Miranda	Friar John
Dario Tanzini	Page to Tybalt
Laurence Olivier	Narrator,Narrator of Prologue
Maria Fracci	Actor
Roberto Antonelli	Actor
Carlo Palmucci	Actor
Murray Head	The Chorus
Nino Rota	Composer

Technical Credits

Franco Zeffirelli

Franco Brusati

Masolino D'Amico

Franco Zeffirelli	Director,Screenwriter
John Brabourne	Producer
Anthony Havelock-Allan	Producer
Franco Brusati	Screenwriter
Masolino D'Amico	Screenwriter
Lord John Brabourne	Producer

Editorial Reviews

The unrepentant romanticism of Franco Zefferelli's Romeo and Juliet works beautifully in translating William Shakespeare's tragic drama to the silver screen. The lyrical score of Academy Award-winner Nino Rota (The Godfather) and the voluptuous and magnificent period costumes by Danilo Donati combine with the sensuous and dusty cinematography of Pasqualino De Santis to evoke the Italian renaissance setting perfectly. Ever the traditionalist, Zefferelli took a consistently conventional approach to the production, with his only really daring move coming in the casting. For the first time in film, two teenage actors portray Shakespeare's tragic protagonists, and the employment of a cast rife with unknowns results in the film being a triumph of spirit and enthusiasm over technique. Simply put, neither Olivia Hussey as Juliet, nor Leonard Whiting as Romeo, are very skilled actors: Shakespeare's words are often garbled, and the actors' intonations are occasionally inappropriate. Still, Zefferelli manages to overcome his young star's lapses (their considerable physical charms help as well), not to mention the coincidence-filled and hole-ridden plot, to offer a film of great beauty, abundant energy, and deep sorrow. Furthermore, the desperate romanticism of the titular characters' final actions taps into adolescent society's deeply rooted rebelliousness that was finding popular expression at the time. Nominated for four Academy Awards (including Best Director and Best Picture), Romeo and Juliet was the winner of two, for Cinematography and Costume Design.

All Movie Guide - Dan Jardine