Romeo and Juliet
Franco Zefferelli's production of Romeo and Juliet is the definitive film adaptation of the play. What makes it especially effective is that the play is set "in fair Verona," actually shot on location in Italy by an Italian director and crew, and their cultural influence lends the play a added depth and a powerful realism. One can feel the oppressive heat of the dusty Verona marketplace and understand how the Capulets and Montagues so quickly reached their flashpoint. Likewise, one can feel how the hot weather (and the stifling expectations of wealthy parents) inflames the tender passion between the two lovers.
Unlike George Cukor's 1936 Romeo and Juliet, where Romeo was played by 44-year-old Leslie Howard and Juliet by 37-year-old Norma Shearer, Zefferelli actually cast teenagers in the roles: Leonard Whiting as Romeo and Olivia Hussey as Juliet, adding further to the film's realism. Age aside, the two leads are both fine actors. Hussey's Mediterranean looks and innocent sensuality make her the quintessential Juliet, while Whiting projects a youthful passion and an appealing innocence.
Michael York almost upstages the two leads with his searing performance as Tybalt. While York's career has unfolded as one of playing mostly nice guys, his seething, despicable characterization here is in striking contrast. John McEnry is equally impressive as Mercutio, here played less as a playful clown than as mentally unbalanced. An uncredited Laurence Olivier also appears as the chorus (heard in voice-over).
Zefferelli adds a number of nice touches not found in the original play, such as Romeo's blissful run through the woods after the balcony scene, and Nino Rota's song, "What is a Youth," heard at the Capulet party. True, Zefferelli omits both the apothecary scene and murder of Count Paris, but to retain them would have disrupted the cinematic pace of the film's climax.
The success of this film was unsurprising, as its essential message of "make love, not war" proved timely in the closing years of the 1960s and served as another example of how Shakespeare's work continues to speak with immediacy to all generations.
© 1998 
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