Production Year: 1968 - Drama - Director: Franco Zeffirelli - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring: Olivia Hussey, Leonard Whiting, Milo O'Shea, Michael York more
for casting kids in the play's pivotal roles of, well, kids. Seventeen-year-old Leonard Whiting and 15-year-old Olivia Hussey play the titular pair, the Bard's st...
for casting kids in the play's pivotal roles of, well, kids. Seventeen-year-old Leonard Whiting and 15-year-old Olivia Hussey play the titular pair, the Bard's st...
Romeo And Juliet (1968) DVD
Italian director Franco Zeffirelli stunned the world when he cast two young unknowns to ... more
portray the star crossed lovers in 'Romeo and Juliet' but it was a gamble that resulted in one of the most popular motion pictures of the time winning internation...
further than this unique Romeo and Juliet Lighter by Reeko. The lighter has contrasting matt and polished chrome finishes and twists into a love-heart. Comes in a sleek, black wooden box and presentation box. Add a special message for that truly personal touch.
passions in any bedroom! What's in the Box: Pillowcase Set - Romeo&Juliet Specifications: Brand: Wanted Pair of pillowcases 100% cotton Size: 60cm x 70cm Presented in a gift tin A Word from the Manufacturer: Wanted is a brand for the 'Young at Heart', as it is not about age but about a feeling. It's a brand about identity, being unique and self-conscious.
classic story, the eternally romantic Romeo&Juliet! For their very own version of the classic love story, they simply choose themselves and others to play six leading characters, using the enclosed cast list. The names of the leading characters are substituted with their chosen names. They can even add their name to the authors as co-writer of the book and write their own personalised dedication to appear in the front of the book. Once they've decided, theyll be sent a first edition personalised novel to treasure forever... A truly thoughtful gift. Inside the gift box... Welcome letter Your Gift Explained Cast List About William Shakespeare and the original play Registration booklet including an activation code should you wish to register online Dimensions: 15.6 x 23.4cm Weight: 287g After registration... You will be sent your Personalised Classic first edition. This is dispatched within 28 days of registration.
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Production Year: 1981 - Drama - Director: Franco Zeffirelli - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Brooke Shields, Martin Hewitt, Shirley Knight, Don Murray, Richard Kiley, Penelope Milford, Beatrice Straight
A review by dharma.roy on Romeo And Juliet (DVD) December 24th, 2007
Author's product rating:
Did you enjoy it?
Loved it
Story
Outstanding
Characters / Performances
Outstanding
Special Effects
Standard
How does it compare to similar films?
Outstanding
Advantages:
Greatest Love story on DVD
Disadvantages:
Hard to understand
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
Introduction
I'm sure all of you may be familiar with the tale of Romeo and Juliet, for those of you haven't it is a play created by William Shakespeare. Franco Zeffirelli an Italian film director made this play in to a movie in 1968.
Cast / Characters
Robert Stephens (Prince Escalus): This is the Prince of Verona
John McEnery (Mercutio): Mercutio is Romeo's close friend & a relative of the Prince
Paul Hardwick (Lord Capulet): Lord Capulet is Juliet's loving father.
Natasha Perry (Lady Capulet): Lady Capulet is Juliet's mother & wife to Lord Capulet.
Olivia Hussey (Juliet): Juliet is the daughter of the Capulet's & lover of Romeo.
Michael York (Tybalt): Tybalt is the nephew of Lord Capulet & Cousin of Juliet.
Pat Heywood (Nurse): Juliet's servant and also someone she can talk to.
Antonio Pierfederici (Lord Montague): Lord Montague is the father of Romeo.
Esmeralda Ruspoli (Lady Montague): Lady Montague is Romeo's mother & wife of Lord Montague.
Leonard Whiting (Romeo): Romeo is the son of the Montague's & lover of Juliet.
Bruce Robinson (Benvolio): Benvolio is Romeo's cousin and friend.
Roberto Bisacco (Count Paris): Count Paris wishes to marry Juliet.
Synopsis
The story is set in Verona (Italy) where two households are located the Montague's and the Capulet's. Both houses have been enemies for years, reasons for which are unknown. All of which is identical to the original play written by William Shakespeare.
The film opens at a market place where a fight broke out between members of the Montague's and Capulet's. As they were fighting with their swords they were also talking, oddly enough at the end of each sentence the shouted "Sir". Whilst they were fighting they were also laughing and joking about which let me to believe that they must have had a lot of fights between each other that they just don't care anymore. The fight is later broken up by the Prince who orders them to stop and drop their weapons, then threatens them with death next time as this is not the first time the Prince has had to stop the fight. I also noticed that they were wearing jerkins and pantaloons, these were clothing that was worn during William Shakespeare's time, so I'm guessing the director was trying to keep most of the original story the same. You may have noticed that the cut scenes are much longer than films we see nowadays. I find it kind of boring having to wait longer before we see the next scene but during the time this film was produced people were used to this.
Moving on, The Capulet's have a party planned where Count Paris is planning on winning Juliet's heart, Meanwhile Romeo, Mercutio & Benvolio crashes the party wearing masks. This party is where Romeo meets Juliet for the very first time, as soon as they saw each other they fell in love instantly. Later that night Juliet finds out that Romeo is a member of the Montague's family and is sworn enemies, but it is too late for Romeo and Juliet as their love for one another has blossomed. Now for the most memorable scenes, Romeo walks through the Capulet's garden hoping to see a glimpse of Juliet, he sees her on her balcony staring in to the sky. He describes her to himself as "The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars". He listens to her from distance talking about him, then she says "if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, and I'll no longer be a Capulet". Romeo lets Juliet aware of his presence and pledges his love to her, as he does Juliet warns him of the Capulet's. She then tells Romeo that if his love is true then announces it faithfully if not then forget about her. What will happen to their love? Will Romeo or Count Paris marry Juliet? Watch the film and find out.
For those of you who want to know more read on otherwise please scroll down to the conclusion.
Here I have cut out some main parts so that I don't spoil the whole story for you, Romeo has returned after an exciting event, to the Market Square in search for his friends where he is intercepted by Tybalt. Romeo shakes his hand instead of getting involved in another fight, is there a reason why Romeo suddenly wants to respect Tybalt? Tybalt does not take kindly to Romeo's handshake and decides to wash it in the fountain as he does he splashes it on Mercutio and Benvolio deliberately. Mercutio calls to Tybalt and both of them star fighting, although Romeo objected to it. During the fight Tybalt accidently stabbed in the chest, he panicked and ran away, everyone cheered Mercutio's victory. Mercutio was injured but he says "a scratch", where is implies that it is a painless scratch so that no one gets worried. Mercutio repeats three times: "A plague of both your houses" then collapses to the floor. He is trying to imply that there is a curse between both their houses and that they will never get along. Will Mercutio be alright? Will the two families ever get along and acknowledge Romeo & Juliet's love?
Romeo who is not easily provoked completely lost himself after seeing his friends state and rushed after Tybalt. He caught Tybalt up then says "Either thou, or I, or both, must go with him". Which means either Romeo or Tybalt will also be in the same state as Mercutio. This portrays Romeo as a forgotten soul who does not care of his own well being, his only intent is to avenge for his friend. They fight vigorously and in the end Romeo is the successor as Tybalt is lying on the ground dead. Romeo exits the scene then appears in front of Friar Laurence where he explains what had happened. Friar Laurence holds Romeo's hand forgiving him for his sins. Here the director is trying to show the good side of Romeo so that the viewers feel pity for him and make them feel some emotion towards him. At this point the Director wants the Viewers to ask questions like: Will Romeo tells Juliet that he murdered her cousin Tybalt? Will she still accept him?
I am going to leave it at that and let those of you who have not seen it yet guessing, so if you want to know more buy the film!!!!
Conclusion
This film is the closest to the original play written by William Shakespeare. I found that in this film the characters used more dialogue which made it less interesting for me to watch; therefore the story was much slower compared to films nowadays including the Luhrmann version. One of the differences I noticed between the film and the play is that, in the play Tybalt stabs Mercutio deliberately unlike in the film where he is stabbed accidently. I think that the director made the right decision to change it because when Romeo killed Tybalt we felt more pity towards him knowing that he did not stab Mercutio on purpose. I think that there was more chemistry between the actors from this film compared to the Luhrmann film which made me feel into the movie. I may add that it is hard to understand what they are saying at times because of the english that was used during the time of Shakespeare. I would recommend this film to anyone as I loved this film, one of the best romance films I have seen. I also recommend Romeo + Juliet for those of you who are not so keen on watching an old film. First time I watched this film was during school years when I was doing GCSE's, I was asked to do a comparison between the two films for my english coursework.
Finally I would like to end this review on an amusing note, Below is a note taken from Wikipedia about the classification of the film.
The film was once rated G in the United States, but was later re-rated PG, in 1968 the only rating below R, primarily because of a nude scene featuring Whiting and Hussey. Zeffirelli had to get special permission for Hussey to appear nude in the film as she was only 15 years old at the time. Hussey later amusingly recalled that she was not permitted to view the film because it contained her own nudity.
...Leonard Whiting, just 17, as Romeo and Olivia Hussey, a mere14 as Juliet. This makes them more or less the actual ages of Shakespeare's characters. I thought that both Whiting and Hussey were superb actors (even at their young ages) and they play well off each other. These roles were debut ones for both young actors. Having two young, attractive actors playing the lead parts did attract a lot of younger audiences. I was a teenager at this time and ... ...Apocethary scene explains just where Romeo got his poison and the fight with Paris explains the Prince's "brace of at your discord", these were both omitted from the film. Despite the missing parts of the play, Zefferelli uses the rest of the script so well and creates a story full of pathos. The sets, the costumes, and the cinematography are bright and colourful, and not only the young lovers, but all the cast exuded youth. This cast of the film ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Romantic story, good acting, good costumes & set Disadvantages: Bit violent, no special effects
...have been countless productions of Romeo and Juliet, both on screen and stage in various guises. Most recently, Baz Luhrman offered his version starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes. But I think this version of the classic love story is the best.
STORYLINE
In Verona, Italy, there are two warring families – the Capulets and Montagues. The film opens with the two houses having a spat which is stopped by the ruler of the town Prince Escalus. ... ...two families.
Romeo Montague gatecrashes a Capulet party with his friends Benvolio and Mercutio. He then sees Juliet and they instantly fall in love. As the party ends they realize they are enemies…
Romeo visits her balcony after and declares his love. She echoes and they decide to wed. They are married by Friar Laurence, who wants to end the fighting between the families.
Later that day Mercutio and Tyblat have a fight with ends up with the death ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: Enjoyable, The actors did such a brilliant job that you could watch it over and over. Disadvantages: The camera Techniques are quite old and the special effects are just ok.
I first watched the 1996 Romeo and Juliet Before this and thought the 1996 one was quite good but I got curious after reading many reviews on the Old Romeo and Juliet and decided I wanted to watch it, so i bought it and watched it and for the first time I realised how the 1996 Romeo and Juliet wasnt as good as i thought it was, as the old one had so much more emotion in and It was so much easier to understand and all the actors and actress did a ... ...Perfect for the Young tragic couple and I found it amazing, the storyline was Brilliant and Quite Believable, In some places it got a bit silly but it made the whole film quite interesting, the Old camera techniques weren`t as good then as you can laugh at some of the techniques they used. But over all this movie was really amazing, unlike the 1996 version, I cried watching them die. I would recommend this movie to all my friends and family. 5/5 ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
Advantages: Truly original, Claire Danes and very cool. Disadvantages: Leonardo DiCaprio
...I originally saw this film at the cinema a few years ago and was gobsmacked by its brilliance. Having finally got round to seeing it again a few years later on DVD I was pleased to find that it really is a good as I remember.
I do not feel that I really need to explain the plot, after all this story has been done a million times before. What is special about this version is the shear originality. At times you feel that some scenes might go too far and just become silly but the director does a superb job at knowing when to stop.
I am not a Leonardo DiCaprio fan but I seem to like most films that he stars in. By far the better star of this film is the underused (in other movies) Claire Danes. She simply shines and is worth watching the film for alone. There is also an excellent supporting performance by Pete Postlethwaite.
This...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
...gets it all wrong and Mercutio and Romeo and their mates all shout, ?A sail! A sail!?
But the main thing is that Juliet. Olivia Hussey is the sexiest girl my age I?ve ever seen and even if the rest of the film was rubbish, I?d watch it again just to see her in it. There?s one bit ? as Romeo wakes up and she?s lying there asleep ? when I could just look at her face forever.
A moment like that could stay with you all your life.
Released on DVD in 1996, Zeffirelli?s 1968 version of Shakespeare?s ?Romeo and Juliet? is available from Amazon for £12.99....
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: It can always make me cry Disadvantages: Some over acting
...Romeo and Juliet, just happens to be one of the greatest love stories of all time? A tragic love story, but a love story none the less. Most people nowadays in secondary school are taught this play by the renowned William Shakespeare, and that is also where my love affair with this film started. I must admit for all my admiration of the Baz Luhrmann version of this film, it took me a long time to actually get round to buying this on DVD..!
When I did eventually buy it I went all the way and bought the special edition for £7 from Woolworth's, because being me I could not do anything by halves it would have to be the special edition with widescreen and extra features.
The director of this film is also the director of the multi-award winning film Moulin Rouge which I have to say I have never understood..! Just as Moulin Rouge was...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
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