|
Actors: Olivia Hussey, Leonard Whiting
|
|
| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about Romeo and Juliet |
|---|
Shakespeare's classic play about young love doomed by warring Italian families was brought to the screen by Italian director Franco Zeffirelli in 1968, with leads who were close in age to the characters (Hussey was 16, Whiting 17). The Montagues and Capulets are forever at odds in Florence, but Romeo of the former and Juliet of the latter fall in love and are destined to be together, even if fate and their families will destroy them. Zeffirelli made an intensely visual film: he cut half of Shakespeare's play and offered a sumptuous alternative that won Oscars for cinematography and costume design, and did more business than any other Shakespeare film adaptation for many years.
--David Loftus, Resident Scholar
|
Timeless it is, and with Franco Zeffirelli's production in 1968, William Shakespeare's “Romeo and Juliet” became truly accessible to millions of teenagers, who finally could see
a Shakespearean production that not only could they understand, but they could identify with the protagonists! Casting two unknowns as the leads (Olivia Hussey and Leonard
Whiting), Zeffirelli nonetheless went on to stun the cinematic world with an enduring adaptation and interpretation of one of the world's greatest tragic love stories. Staying almost entirely true to the Bard's original version, Zeffirelli succeeds in grand fashion.
It is unimaginable that any American high school would attempt to teach “Romeo and Juliet” without using this film. It rivals “Hamlet” in being the most watched Shakespearean play.
--Bill Hobbs, Resident Scholar
|
| Analysis of Romeo and Juliet |
|---|
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about
books by breaking them down into many different literary
elements, all of which are searchable (click here). |
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Time/era of movie:
- distant past
Romance/Love/Hugging
Yes
Lover is...
- an historic enemy
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- student
Age:
- a teen
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Hair color?
- brunette (Brown)
Hair type
- (man) short/standard straight
Body type
- (man) average
Unclothed?
- Chest
- Chest and Buttocks
Events of movie makes character more...
- sad
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Italian
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor?
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Hair color
- brunette (Brown)
- brunette (Black)
Hair style
- (woman) medium/shoulderlgn straight
Body type
- (woman) very skinny
Unclothed?
- chest
How much in movie?
- 80%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Italian
Main Adversary
Identity:
- an organization
- general circumstances
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- 60%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Italian
Setting
Europe
Yes
European country:
- Italy
City?
Yes
Misc setting
- fancy mansion
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- moderately detailed references to deaths
- explicit references to deaths
Movie makes you feel...
- concerned
- depressed/sad
Sex/nudity in movie?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- kissing
- sex under blankets
Non-American film?
Yes
What language?
- English
Subtitles?
- No
Any profanity?
- None
If soundtrack VERY NOTICEABLE...
- Orchestra/classical
Is this movie based on a
- play
|
|
Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR:
 David Loftus
SCHOLARS:
|
|
Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
|
