Romeo and Juliet is a 1968 British-Italian cinematic adaptation of the William Shakespeare play of the same name.

The film was directed and co-written by Franco Zeffirelli, and stars Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey. It won Academy Awards for Best Cinematography and Best Costume Design; it was also nominated for Best Director and Best Picture. 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.

Plot

In Verona, Italy, Romeo and Juliet, the teenaged children of two feuding families (Montagues and Capulets, respectively), meet at a feast and fall in love. They are secretly married by Romeo's confessor and father figure, Friar Laurence, with the assistance of Juliet's nursemaid. Unfortunately, a street duel breaks out between Juliet's cousin Tybalt and Romeo's friend Mercutio when Tybalt insults Romeo. However, since Romeo has just been married to his cousin, he refuses to fight, 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 penalized by the Prince of Verona with banishment instead of a death penalty.

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 42 hours. Friar Laurence plans to inform Romeo of the hoax so that he can meet Juliet after her burial and escape with her when she recovers from her swoon, but the news of Juliet's death reaches Romeo before the friar's letter. In despair, he goes to the tomb and there drinks a poison, killing himself. Awakening shortly after he expires, Juliet discovers a dead Romeo and proceeds to stab herself with his dagger. Later, the two families attend their joint funeral together and agree to end the feud.

Production

Set in a 15th-century Renaissance period, Romeo & Juliet was filmed entirely in Italy in varying locations:^[2]

• The balcony scene: At the Palazzo Borghese, built by Cardinal Scipione Borghese in the 16th century, in Artena, 20 miles south of Rome.
• The 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 street scenes: Also in Pienza.
• The fight scenes: In Gubbio, a town in Umbria province.

Casting

According to Franco Zeffirelli's autobiography, Paul McCartney was originally asked to play the part of Romeo.^[3]

Controversial rating distinctions

The film was once rated G in the United States, but was later re-rated PG primarily because of a nude scene featuring Hussey. Zeffirelli had to get permission for Hussey to appear nude in the film as she was only 15 years old at the time.^[4] Leonard Whiting (Romeo), a 17-year-old subject of Great Britain at the time of the filming, was of legal age in Britain and did not need permission. Italy, where the film was made, has similar age laws.

Soundtrack

Two releases of the score of the film, composed by Nino Rota, have been released.^[5][6]

"Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet"

The film's love theme is used in popular culture, as in "Our Tune" by disc jockey Simon Bates. In addition to this, various versions of the theme have been recorded and released, including the most successful by Henry Mancini, whose instrumental rendition was a number-one success in the United States during June 1969.^[7]

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".

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 Olivia Hussey's from the 1968 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 Whiting and Hussey's outfits in the Zeffirelli film in mind.^[8]

References

External links

• Romeo and Juliet 1968. The first website on the film created by Barbara Bach.
• Comprehensive webpage on Romeo & Juliet, featuring magazine articles and film reviews (archived).
• "Virtuoso in Verona" — 1968 review in Time (magazine)
• Romeo and Juliet at the Internet Movie Database
• Romeo and Juliet at AllRovi