The Bard’s timeless telling of “Two houses, both alike in dignity” (the Capulets and the Montagues) makes a stunning transition from its centuries old telling on the boards, to what Roger Ebert regarded as “the most exciting film of Shakespeare ever made”. Pasqualino De Santis took home an Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Danilo Donati also won for Best Costume Design, and Best Director Nominee Franco Zeffirelli beautifully captures the love at first sight attraction between Romeo (Leonard Whiting) and Juliet (Olivia Hussey in an Academy Award nominated screen debut) at the masquerade ball, as well as the tension between Tybalt (Michael York), Mercutio (John McEnery) and the rest of the players whose loyalties are beholden within the ancient grudge – “Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean”. Laurence Olivier invites us into the world with his narration, and Nino Rota’s lovely BAFTA and Golden Globe award winning score paces the film. Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey remarkably embody the hypnotic power of young love and the two “star-cross’d lovers” destiny.
“Franco Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet is the most exciting film of Shakespeare ever made.” – Roger Ebert
“A lovely, sensitive, friendly popularization of the play – the lovers, Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey, as young and full of life as they ought to be” – Renata Adler, The New York Times
“High-minded and lively, with heartbreakingly beautiful actors on show, and all shot in a kind of honeycomb-sunglow light.” – Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
Garret Mathany writes about Romeo & Juliet on the New Beverly blog.
