Amazon.com: Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 adaptation of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet was unique in its day 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 star-crossed lovers who defy a running feud between their families in order to be together in love. Typically played on stage and in previous film productions by adult actors, the innocent look and rawness of Whiting and Hussey resonated at the time with a burgeoning youth movement from San Francisco to Prague. The tragic romance at the center of the story also clicked with anti-authority sentiments, but even without that, Zeffirelli scores points by validating the ideals and passions of strong-willed adolescents. Less successful are scenes requiring the actors to have a fuller grasp of the text, though the best thing going remains the unambiguous duel between Romeo and Tybalt (Michael York). Lavishly photographed by Pasquale de Santis on location in Italy, this Romeo and Juliet brought a different tone and dimension to a story that had become tiresome in reverential presentations. --Tom Keogh
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Classic story done to perfection
Zefferelli has brought this classic love story by Shakespeare to the screen. He makes it so simple, the language, and highlights this with an exeptional cast. With Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting, both young newcomers at the time, in the leads, you become entranced with their love story and conflicts. This is Shakepseare at it's best. Although Henry V, Othello and Hamlet were all good films, this one is breathtaking to watch. Zefferelli followed this with Burton and Taylor in The Taming of the Shrew, also excellent. Hats off to Zefferelli.
Rating: - Romeo & Juliet 1968
It was a very nice product and it is such a beautiful movie....the company sent the product fast and secure....thanx...Rosalyn
Rating: - Romeo & Juliet
Just as I remembered this movie as a youth - awesome story - movie is true to the original Shakespere writing. Great teaching tool. Love it!
Rating: - Romeo and Juliet
The acting in this film is wonderful. The drama lines are delivered as one would expect, with class. The action scenes are played out well, though there was no as much blood as a sword thrust to the heart might actually cause, but this is family television. It is a very good introduction to Shakespeare, and the cast all realizes they are first and foremost Shakespearian actors.
This version far surpasses any other production of Romeo and Juliet. The veiwer gets the sense of the frustration, the romance, the hopes that hings might change, and the let down of realizing the tragedy ... Read More
Rating: - Romeo & Juliet
Great classic and still good today. Just wish they could have improved the sound when they put it on DVD. Still worth it though. Thanks for the good price.
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