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English 10: Romeo and Juliet (1968) - Movie Review

Romeo and Juliet

Period romantic tragedy, 1968

I've just watched the 1968 screen adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet directed by Franco Zeffirelli and I think it is absolutely incredible - the scenery, the intricate and vibrant costumes, the beautiful old English language - not to mention the young actors themselves managing to bring the main characters to life. This movie even won the Academy Award for Best Picture, scoring it a spot in the Top 10 Movies in 1968. Zeffirelli has really outdone himself producing this film, and the 9 total awards won by this movie are definitely well deserved. The actors performed marvellously to present the characters to us, embodying every aspect of their personalities, while the film crew worked hard and non-stop to get the perfect shot for every scene, and finally unveiled to us the 1968 screen adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet that went above and beyond everyone's expectations.

The movie itself is set in 16th century Verona, starting with a street brawl. After the Prince of Verona intervenes and stops the fight, several main characters are introduced, including Romeo of the Montagues and Juliet of the Capulets as well as their parents, the heads of their households. The two teenagers are from rivalling families, but that night at a party hosted by the Capulets, they mistakenly fall in love with each other without knowing they are both the heir of their rivals, thus forming a forbidden and dangerous relationship. The pair marry in secret, with the friar hoping their marriage could help restore peace between the quarrelling families. However, their love leads to several devasting events that in the end result in Romeo's banishment. The lovers then have to find a way to reconnect, without their families knowing and facing their own challenges along the way.

In the original script, Shakespeare depicts a few themes: love and hate, death, power, and youth. By using the original script of Romeo and Juliet, Zeffirelli depicts these themes extremely well within the movie. Prince Escalus of Verona, played by Robert Stephens, executed his part like the true prince he is, bringing about his character an air of power and authority, perfectly adopting the role of the prince as he manages to stop the street brawls and making sure it doesn't happen again with the threat of an exile. His crisp, firm voice makes him a feared yet respected figure in Verona, exactly like how monarchs were presented in the 16th century. Zeffirelli has also adapted some of the most famous scenes and lines - including Juliet's "O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?" (II. ii 880), as well as the famous balcony scene where Romeo meets Juliet inside the Capulet castle walls after the party ends. The theme of love and hate is brought to the viewer's focus throughout the movie with sweet interactions between the young lovers and the street duels amongst members of the two rival families. Romeo, played by Leonard Whiting, and Juliet, played by Olivia Hussey, were casted by Zeffirelli like Shakespeare had intended them to be - teenagers, 17 and 16 years old respectively. The youth in them allowed the pair to embody the feelings and the spirit of lovelorn teens, allowing them to be successful in playing their characters, eventually earning them each a Most Promising Newcomer Golden Globe Award. Death is also embodied by every duel between characters, with each resulting death propelling the scenes onward and successfully bringing the movie to its tragic ending. John McEnery played his part as Mercutio flawlessly as well - impressively managing to adopt Mercutio's relaxed, cocky, and stubborn attitude. Even as Mercutio was dying, the amount of pain McEnery was able to put into his voice to say Mercutio's last line, "a plague o' both your houses!" (III. i. 1612) added much more impact to the chain of events that followed afterwards. The thought process Zeffirelli had to go through to cast each and every actor for their character was astonishing - always thinking about how he could present the story corresponding to how Shakespeare had originally intended his story to be, and by completely immersing themselves in their characters, these talented actors performed in what is still one of the greatest movie adaptations of a century.

To create this masterpiece, the actors and film crew had to travel to some beautiful places for particular scenes. The balcony scene between Hussey and Whiting was filmed about 40km southeast of Rome, in a palace called Palazzo Borghese. The site was built by the Italian Borghese noble family in the 16th century, around when Romeo and Juliet is set. 90km northwest of Rome, in a city called Pienza in the province of Siena, the crew filmed all of the scenes within the Capulet household in another palace, Palazzo Piccolomini. A majority of street and marketplace scenes were also filmed in Pienza. Then, to capture exciting and thrilling street duels, they travelled east to an Umbrian town named Gubbio. Aside from using these historical sites for filming, the crew also used creative lighting and costume designs to match the scene to the mood. During street fights, warm colours and hard lighting was used to create a tense and heated atmosphere. This could be seen in the opening street brawl, as well as the midday duel between Tybalt, who wore orange, and Mercutio, who wore black to represent death. During romantic scenes, majority of which were between Romeo and Juliet, Hussey and Whiting's costumes were usually elaborately decorated and contrasting in colour, to represent the difference between them that could be complementary to some and an eyesore to others - like how the two families would oppose their relationship, but the Nurse and Friar Lawrence encouraged them to be together. The lighting was also softer and less insulting to the eyes, creating round and feathery shadows that seem comforting. This could be seen when Romeo, wearing navy, meets Juliet, wearing deep orange, at the Capulet masquerade ball while the skylight lets in delicate light that also brings out the gentle colours in their eyes. It's also shown in the balcony scene where Juliet is wearing a beige low-cut nightdress while Romeo still dons his navy suit from the party a few hours earlier. Aside from costume designs, there is also a music component. At the masquerade ball and throughout the movie, a theme song is played. The song, () is the love theme of Romeo and Juliet, composed by Nino Rota, an Italian composer. The lyrics of the song describe the pair of lovers, with "youth" representing Romeo and "maid" representing Juliet. The "rose" that blooms and fades is a symbol of their impetuous love, blossoming as they experience love and dying as they mature. The song symbolized the story so much that it even won the Nastro d'Argento Best Movie Soundtrack award. All of these cinematic elements together make the movie interesting and engaging, creating a stunning success that is still one of the greatest script-adapted movies today.

The 1968 adaptation of Romeo and Juliet has a rating of PG13, and I strongly recommend that high school students watch it at least once while studying Shakespeare in English class. It's truly a magnificent movie and though you might not understand the movie fully without first reading the original script, by just watching the scenes there can be enough context gathered to understand what is going on. The cinematic experience gained during watching the movie will truly bring tears to your eyes and take your breath away with instilled anticipation, hook a smile onto your lips, and bubble a laugh out of you. Zeffirelli's award winning movie has been a family and literature class favourite for many years since its release and is still loved by millions around the world.

Works Cited
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"Nino Rota - What Is a Youth (Love Theme from 'Romeo & Juliet')."

Shakespeare, William, et al. "Romeo and Juliet." IMDb, 5 Mar. 1968, www.imdb.com/title/tt0063518/.

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Wikipedia Contributors. "Romeo and Juliet." Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 23 Nov. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romeo_and_Juliet#Synopsis.

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