Romeo & Juliette

British-Italian, 1968, 2.5 hours

Directed by Franco Zeffirelli

Music by Nino Rota

Starring Leonard Whiting & Olivia Hussey

Franco Zeffirelli’s popular version of Romeo & Juliette undoubtedly remains the most successful adaptation ever of this Shakespearean tragedy for the screen. The Director’s artistic touch is evident in the lush photography and the meticulous attention to detail in the scenery, costumes, and props.

Zeffirelli’s determination to seek out the best talent was well rewarded. The casting of teenage actors for the protagonists is faithful to Shakespeare’s play. The bright flame of youthful passion between Romeo and Juliette, which shines through Shakespeare’s verse, is resurrected on-screen by the chemistry between Whiting and Hussey. The famed Irish actor, Milo O’Shea, stands out as Friar Laurence, a demanding role which challenges the actor to steer his emotions between the extremes of boundless hope and hopeless despair. The querulous antagonists, Tibult and Mercutio, Juliette’s sinister cousin and Romeo’s steadfast companion, are brilliantly portrayed by Michael York and John McEnery. The fateful duel between Romeo and Tibult ‒ unrelenting in its graphic violence ‒ is staged with gut-wrenching realism.

Through his directorial deftness, Zeffirelli manages to instill in his audience a glimmer of hope, a momentary suspension of belief in the predictable tragic climax. We are tempted to wonder whether Friar Laurence’s ingenious plan to save the hapless couple could have succeeded; whether Juliette may have awoken at the right time to see Romeo by her side; whether Romeo himself could have acted less rashly and impulsively. Yet even with his magical touch, Zeffirelli cannot shield us, his empathetic audience, from the inescapable conclusion. In the end, his retelling of the tragic resolution of the tale of the star-crossed lovers remains faithful to Shakespeare. The Bard would have approved!