Romeo and Juliet

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

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. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 1
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 (Theatre Wide Screen)
• Audio: PCM Mono
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Features:
  • Widescreen version enhanced for 16x9
  • Dolby Digital: English
  • English subtitles
  • Interactive menus
  • Scene selection
  • Theatrical trailer

AWARDS

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

•     Won Best Cinematography - 1968 (Pasqualino De Santis)
•     Won Best Costume Design - 1968 (Danilo Donati)
•     Nominated Best Director - 1968 (Franco Zeffirelli)
•     Nominated Best Picture - 1968 (Anthony Havelock-Allan, Lord John Brabourne)

• Directors Guild of America

•     Nominated Best Director - 1968 (Franco Zeffirelli)

• Hollywood Foreign Press Association

•     Won Best Foreign Film - English Language - 1968
•     Won New Star of the Year - Female - 1968 (Olivia Hussey)
•     Won New Star of the Year - Male - 1968 (Leonard Whiting)
•     Nominated Best Original Score - 1968 (Nino Rota)

• National Board of Review

•     Won Best Director - 1968 (Franco Zeffirelli)
•     Nominated Best Picture - 1968

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Olivia Hussey - Juliet
       Leonard Whiting - Romeo
       Milo O'Shea - Friar 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
       Carlo Palmucci

• Director:

  Franco Zeffirelli

• Producer:

  Lord John Brabourne, Anthony Havelock-Allan

• Screenwriter:

  Franco Brusati, Franco Zeffirelli, Masolino D'Amico

• Play Author:

  William Shakespeare

• Cinematographer:

  Pasqualino De Santis

• Songwriter:

  Henry Mancini

• Composer (Music Score):

  Nino Rota

• Songwriter:

  Eugen Walter

• Editor:

  Reginald Mills

• Production Designer:

  Lorenzo Mongiardino

• Art Director:

  Luciano Puccini

• Associate Producer:

  Richard Goodwin

• Set Designer:

  Christine Edzard

• Costume Designer:

  Danilo Donati

REVIEW:

• 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. ~ Dan Jardine, Rovi