Romeo and Juliet (1968 film)

Romeo and Juliet
theatrical release poster
Directed by	Franco Zeffirelli
Screenplay by	Franco Brusati Masolino D'Amico Franco Zeffirelli
Produced by	John Brabourne Anthony Havelock-Allan
Starring	Leonard Whiting Olivia Hussey Milo O'Shea Michael York John McEnery Natasha Parry Pat Heywood Robert Stephens
Narrated by	Laurence Olivier
Cinematography	Pasqualino De Santis
Edited by	Reginald Mills
Music by	Nino Rota
Production companies	BHE Films Verona Produzione Dino de Laurentiis Cinematografica
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date	8 October 1968 (1968-10-08TUS)
Running time	138 minutes
Countries	United Kingdom Italy
Language	English
Budget	$850,000
Box office	$38.9 million

Romeo and Juliet is a 1968 British-Italian romance film based on the tragic play of the same name (1591–1595) by William Shakespeare.

The film was directed and co-written by Franco Zeffirelli, and stars Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey. It won Academy Awards for Best Cinematography (Pasqualino De Santis) and Best Costume Design (Danilo Donati); it was also nominated for Best Director and Best Picture, making it the last Shakespearean film to be nominated for Best Picture to date. Sir Laurence Olivier spoke the film's prologue and epilogue and reportedly dubbed the voice of the Italian actor playing Lord Montague, but was not credited in the film.

Being the most financially successful film adaptation of a Shakespeare play at the time of its release, it was popular among teenagers partly because it was the first film to use actors who were close to the age of the characters from the original play. Several critics also welcomed the film enthusiastically.

Plot

In Verona, Italy, the longstanding feud between the Montague and the Capulet clans breaks out in a street brawl, broken up by the Prince of the city. The same night, two teenagers of the two families — Romeo (Montague ("Montecchi" in Italian) ) and Juliet (Capulet ("Capuleti" in Italian) ) — meet at a Capulet masked ball and become deeply infatuated. Later, Romeo stumbles into the secluded garden under Juliet's bedroom balcony and the two exchange impassioned pledges. They are soon secretly married by Romeo's confessor and father figure, Friar Laurence, with the assistance of Juliet's nursemaid. Unfortunately, another street duel breaks out between Juliet's first cousin Tybalt and Romeo's best friend Mercutio when Tybalt insults Romeo. Since Tybalt is Juliet's cousin and Romeo has just been married to Juliet, he sees Tybalt as family and refuses to fight him, leading Mercutio to be a loyal friend and fight for him. This leads to Mercutio's death. Romeo retaliates by fighting Tybalt and killing him, and is punished by the Prince with banishment instead of the death penalty. Romeo, however, sees his banishment as worse than death, as Verona is the only home he has known and does not want to be pulled away from Juliet. Friar Laurence eventually convinces Romeo that he is very lucky and should be thankful for what he has. Romeo and Juliet secretly spend their wedding night together and consummate their marriage.

Unaware of Juliet's secret marriage, her father has arranged for her to marry wealthy Count Paris. In order to escape this arranged marriage and remain faithful to Romeo, Juliet consumes a potion prepared by Friar Laurence intended to make her appear dead for forty-two hours. Friar Laurence plans to inform Romeo of the hoax so that Romeo can meet Juliet after her burial and escape with her when she recovers from her swoon, so he sends another Friar, John, to give Romeo a letter describing the plan. However, when Romeo's servant, Balthasar, sees Juliet being buried, under the impression that she is dead, he goes to tell Romeo and reaches him before Friar John. In despair, Romeo goes to Juliet's tomb and kills himself by drinking poison. Awakening shortly after he expires, Juliet discovers a dead Romeo and proceeds to stab herself with his dagger, piercing her abdomen. Later, the two families attend their joint funeral and agree to end the feud.

Cast

• Leonard Whiting as Romeo
• Olivia Hussey as Juliet
• John McEnery as Mercutio
• Milo O'Shea as Friar Lawrence
• Pat Heywood as The Nurse
• Robert Stephens as The Prince
• Michael York as Tybalt
• Bruce Robinson as Benvolio
• Paul Hardwick as Lord Capulet
• Natasha Parry as Lady Capulet
• Antonio Pierfederici as Lord Montague
• Esmeralda Ruspoli as Lady Montague
• Keith Skinner as Balthasar
• Roberto Bisacco as Paris
• Laurence Olivier as Chorus and voice of Lord Montague (uncredited)

Production

Casting

Although it is often rumored that Franco Zeffirelli considered Paul McCartney of The Beatles for the role of Romeo, he does not mention it in his autobiography, and as McCartney was 25 at the time, it is unlikely to be true, especially since the director engaged in a worldwide search for unknown teenage actors to play the parts of the two lovers. Leonard Whiting was 17 at the time, and Olivia Hussey was 15, and Zeffirelli adapted the play in such a way as to play to their strengths and hide their weaknesses: for instance, long speeches were trimmed, and he emphasized reaction shots.

Laurence Olivier's involvement in the production was by happenstance. He was in Rome to film The Shoes of the Fisherman and visited the studio where Romeo and Juliet was being shot. He asked Zeffirelli if there was anything he could do, and was given the Prologue to read, then ended up dubbing the voice of Lord Montague as well as other assorted roles.

Filming locations

Set in a 14th-century Renaissance Italy in varying locations:

• The balcony scene: At the Palazzo Borghese, built by Cardinal Scipione Borghese in the 16th century, in Artena, 20 miles south of Rome.
• The interior church scenes: At a Romanesque church named St. Pietro in Tuscania, 50 miles northwest of Rome.
• The tomb scene: Also in Tuscania.
• The palace of the Capulets' scenes: At Palazzo Piccolomini, built between 1459-62 by Pope Pius II, in the city of Pienza, in Siena province.
• The dueling scenes with swords were set in the old Umbrian town of Gubbio.
• The film also has some scenes filmed in Montagnana.
• The street scenes: Also in Pienza, and on Cinecitta Studios back lot, Rome.

Reception

The film earned $14.5 million in domestic rentals at the North American box office during 1969. It was re-released in 1973 and earned $1.7 million in rentals.

Film critic Roger Ebert has written: "I believe Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet is the most exciting film of Shakespeare ever made".

According to ratings aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, the film is positively reviewed by 97% of critics.

Soundtrack

Main article: Romeo and Juliet (1968 film soundtrack)

Two releases of the score of the film, composed by Nino Rota, have been made.

"Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet" The film's love theme was widely disseminated, notably in "Our Tune", a segment of BBC disc jockey Simon Bates's radio show. In addition, various versions of the theme have been recorded and released, including a highly successful one by Henry Mancini, whose instrumental rendition was a Number One success in the United States during June 1969.

There are two different sets of English lyrics to the song.

• The film's version is called "What Is a Youth?", featuring lyrics by Eugene Walter, and sung by Glen Weston. This version has been released on the complete score/soundtrack release.
• An alternate version, called "A Time for Us", featuring lyrics by Larry Kusik and Eddie Snyder. This version has been recorded by Johnny Mathis and Andy Williams, among others. Josh Groban performed "Un Giorno Per Noi", an Italian version of "A Time for Us".
• A third version is called "Ai Giochi Addio", featuring lyrics by Elsa Morante, and has been performed by opera singers such as Luciano Pavarotti and Natasha Marsh.

In popular culture

• Thom Yorke cites the film as one of the inspirations for the Radiohead song "Exit Music (For a Film)", which was written specifically for the ending credits of the 1996 film William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet. Said Yorke, "I saw the Zeffirelli version when I was 13, and I cried my eyes out, because I couldn't understand why the morning after they shagged, they didn't just run away. The song is written for two people who should run away before all the bad stuff starts. A personal song."
• Kevin and Paul go to see the film in the episode "Wayne on Wheels" in season three of The Wonder Years.
• Celine Dion referenced this film, in particular the "hand dance" scene, in the video for her 1992 single "Nothing Broken but My Heart".
• Japanese manga artist Rumiko Takahashi referenced the Zeffirelli film in two of her manga and anime works. In one episode of Urusei Yatsura, devious troublemaker Ryoko Mendou invites the series' male protagonist, Ataru Moroboshi, to have a "Romeo and Juliet" rendezvous with her, and wears a dress based on Hussey's from the film. Later, Takahashi's Ranma 1/2 featured a storyline in which the lead characters, Ranma Saotome and Akane Tendo, are cast as Romeo and Juliet in a production of the play at their high school. Takahashi designed Ranma and Akane's costumes for the play with Effron and Westmiller's outfits in the Zeffirelli film in mind.

References

Notes

Further reading

• "Virtuoso in Verona" — 1968 review in Time (magazine)

External links

• Comprehensive webpage on Romeo & Juliet at the Wayback Machine (archive index), featuring magazine articles and film reviews (archived).
• Romeo and Juliet at IMDb
• Romeo and Juliet at the TCM Movie Database
• ‹The template AllMovie title is being considered for deletion.› Romeo and Juliet at AllMovie