Romeo and Juliet (1968)

William Shakespeare, though often regarded as being history's greatest playwright, is (falsely) regarded as being too "dry" or "dated" by many modern readers.  The irony of this is that the plays of Shakespeare have as much sex (implied sex, but sex) and violence as your average soap opera.  Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 version of Romeo and Juliet is one of the most famous Shakespeare adaptations; this version is unique in that it cast appropriately aged actors to play the star-crossed lovers: the fifteen year old Olivia Hussy and the seventeen year old Leonard Whiting portrayed Juliet and her Romeo.

Romeo and Juliet are the scions of two rival noble families (the Montagues and the Capulets) in Verona, Italy.  At as masquerade ball hosted by the Capulets, a disguised Romeo manages to catch a glimpse of Juliet for the first time and becomes smitten.  The young pair quickly fall for each other and soon make secret vows to wed, though their families' violent feud threatens to derail their romantic plans.  A series of duels and a fatal miscommunication lead up to a tragic climax in the full Shakespearean fashion (everybody dies).

Franco Zeffirelli (the premiere director of Shakespearean adaptations after Laurence Olivier, who narrates this film) chose to adapt Romeo and Juliet following his critically acclaimed version of The Taming of the Shrew.  Zeffirelli did one thing in particular to allow this film to work, he cast actors that were actually of an appropriate age (previous versions had cast thirty-somethings) to play the pair.  Hussy and Whiting were fifteen and seventeen, respectively, during filming and are able to provide legitimacy to the plot; it is difficult to imagine casting thirty-year olds and having them be believable teenage lovers.  Michael York, in an early role, is great as the hot-headed Tybalt, as is John McEnery as the flamboyant Mercutio.

There is little to say about the plot other than that it fits into the mold of the standard Shakespearean tragedy; the dialogue is taken directly from the play and is brilliant (as is to be expected from the Bard).  Hussy and Whiting do well with the material, though they struggle to make their many soliloquies sound both spontaneous and natural.  The plot is considerably trimmed down and simplified from the text, as a runtime of four or five hours is unrealistic for a theatrically released film (though not unheard of).  The main problems that eliminating significant elements from the plot brought about is that it simplified the motivations of many of the characters and all but completely eliminated one of the key players.

Zeffirelli's version of Romeo and Juliet is a competent, if simplified, take on Shakespeare's tragedy about the two lovers that has attractive leads and a talented cast.  The film runs into many of the problems that typically face Shakespeare plays that have been brought to the big screen, but that is to be expected.  In the end, it is perfect for the role that it has been serving for years: being the film that high school students see after reading the play, with twenty-seconds where the teacher "accidentally" fast forwards over nudity.

7/10

Note: This review was previously posted on another blog that I wrote.