| Romeo and Juliet | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Franco Zeffirelli |
| Screenplay by | Franco Brusati Masolino D'Amico Franco Zeffirelli |
| Based on | Romeo and Juliet 1597 play byWilliam Shakespeare |
| Produced by | John Brabourne Anthony Havelock-Allan |
| Starring | |
| Narrated by | Laurence Olivier |
| Cinematography | Pasqualino De Santis |
| Edited by | Reginald Mills |
| Music by | Nino Rota |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release dates |
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Running time | 138 minutes |
| Countries | Italy United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $850,000[1] |
| Box office | $38.9 million[2] |
Romeo and Juliet (Italian:Romeo e Giulietta) is a 1968periodromantictragedy film, based on theplay of the same name byWilliam Shakespeare. Directed and co-written byFranco Zeffirelli, the film starsLeonard Whiting asRomeo andOlivia Hussey asJuliet.Laurence Olivier spoke the film's prologue and epilogue and dubs the voice ofAntonio Pierfederici, who played Lord Montague but was not credited on-screen. The cast also featuresMilo O'Shea,Michael York,John McEnery,Bruce Robinson, andRobert Stephens.
The film adaptation of a Shakespeare play was a financial success during its time of release. It became popular among teenagers because it was the first adaptation to cast actors close to the age of the characters from the original play. Many critics also praised the film. It wonAcademy Awards forBest Cinematography andBest Costume Design. It was also nominated forBest Director andBest Picture, making it the last Shakespearean film to be nominated for the latter category. Whiting and Hussey both wonGolden Globe Awards for Most Promising Newcomers.
One summer morning in 14th centuryVerona, a longstanding feud between theMontague and theCapulet clans breaks out in a street brawl. The brawl is broken up by thePrince, who warns both families that any future violence between them will result in harsh consequences. That night, two teenagers of the two families—Romeo andJuliet—meet at a Capulet masked ball and fall in love. Later, Romeo stumbles into the secluded garden under Juliet's bedroom balcony and the two exchange impassioned pledges. They are secretly married the next day by Romeo's confessor and father figure,Friar Laurence, with the assistance of Juliet's nurse.
That afternoon, Juliet's cousinTybalt, furious that Romeo had attended his family's ball, insults him and challenges him to a brawl. Romeo now regards Tybalt as family and he refuses to fight him, which leads Romeo's best friend,Mercutio, to fight Tybalt instead. Despite Romeo's efforts to stop the fight, Tybalt mortally wounds Mercutio, who curses both the Montague and Capulet houses before dying. Enraged over his friend's death, Romeo retaliates by fighting Tybalt and killing him. Romeo is subsequently punished by the Prince with banishment from Verona, with the threat of death if he ever returns. Romeo then secretly spends his wedding night with Juliet, the couple consummate their marriage, and Romeo flees.
Juliet's parents, unaware of their daughter's secret marriage, have arranged for Juliet to marry wealthyCount Paris. Juliet pleads with her parents to postpone the marriage, but they refuse and threaten to disown her. Juliet seeks out Friar Laurence for help, hoping to escape herarranged marriage to Paris and remain faithful to Romeo. At Friar Laurence's behest, she reconciles with her parents and agrees to their wishes. On the night before the wedding, Juliet consumes a potion prepared by Friar Laurence intended to make her appear dead for 42 hours. Friar Laurence plans to inform Romeo of the hoax so that Romeo can meet Juliet after her burial and escape with her when she recovers from her swoon, so he sends Friar John to give Romeo a letter describing the plan.
However, when Balthasar, Romeo's servant, sees Juliet being buried under the impression that she is dead, he goes to tell Romeo and reaches him before Friar John. In despair, Romeo goes to Juliet's tomb and kills himself by drinking poison. Soon afterwards, Friar Laurence arrives as Juliet awakens. Despite his attempts to persuade her to flee from the crypt, Juliet refuses to leave Romeo, and once the Friar flees, she kills herself by plunging his dagger into her chest. Later, the two families, having ended their feud, attend their joint funeral and are condemned by the Prince.
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Paul McCartney has said he was considered byFranco Zeffirelli for the role of Romeo. Although Zeffirelli does not mention it in his autobiography, McCartney provided details on this account (including meeting withOlivia Hussey and exchanging telegrams with her) in his co-written autobiography.[3]
Zeffirelli engaged in a worldwide search for unknown teenage actors to play the parts of the two lovers. MusicianPhil Collins was in the running for Romeo, while his then-girlfriend Lavinia Lang (herself a great friend to Hussey) was in the running for Juliet,[4] as was actressAnjelica Huston, but the latter's father, directorJohn Huston, withdrew her from consideration when he decided to cast her in his filmA Walk with Love and Death.[5] When they were cast, Whiting and Hussey were 16 and 15 years old respectively. However, both stars had aged a year by the time filming began in the summer of 1967.[6] Zeffirelli adapted the play in such a way as to play to their strengths and hide their weaknesses: for instance, long speeches were trimmed, and he emphasized reaction shots.[7] Zeffirelli said of the casting: "It's a tremendous risk. We just hope to have the right chemistry – a melancholy Romeo who rebels like all the youth of today and a pure, determined Juliet. If we fail, it will be ridiculous."[8]
Laurence Olivier's involvement in the production was by happenstance. He was in Rome to filmThe Shoes of the Fisherman and visited the studio whereRomeo and Juliet was being shot. He asked Zeffirelli if there was anything he could do, and was given the Prologue to read, then ended up dubbing the voice of Lord Montague as well as other assorted minor roles.[7]
After cast readings in late May, rehearsals and filming began at the end of June 1967 in Tuscania, Italy, then moved to Pienza, Gubbio, and Artena, before completing at Cinecittà movie studios in Rome.[9][10] The famous Romeo and Juliet balcony scene was filmed in Artena in September 1967.[11]
The film is set in14th century pre-Renaissance Italy.[12]
During post-production, several scenes were trimmed or cut. Act 5, Scene 3, in which Romeo fights and eventually kills Paris outside Juliet's crypt, was filmed but deleted from the final print.[13] According toLeonard Whiting andRoberto Bisacco, Zeffirelli cut the scene because he felt it unnecessarily made Romeo less sympathetic.[14]
The final budgeted cost for the film wasUS$850,000 (equivalent to $7,685,789 in 2024).[1]
On March 4, 1968,Romeo and Juliet premiered during theRoyal Film Performance, and was widely released in the United Kingdom the next day. It was released on 8 October 1968 in the United States and on 19 October in Italy. The film earned $14.5 million in North American box-office rentals during 1969 (equivalent to $94.86 million in 2024).[15][16] It was re-released in 1973 and earned US$1.7 million in rentals (equivalent to $9.14 million in 2024).[17][16]
TheMotion Picture Association of America initially gave the film a G rating in the United States when it was first released, although they re-rated it to a PG rating in its 1973 re-release.[citation needed]
Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a "Fresh" score of 95% based on 41 reviews, with an average rating of 8/10, accompanied by a positive consensus: "The solid leads and arresting visuals make a case for Zeffirelli'sRomeo and Juliet as the definitive cinematic adaptation of the play."[18]
Roger Ebert of theChicago Sun-Times wrote: "I believe Franco Zeffirelli'sRomeo and Juliet is the most exciting film of Shakespeare ever made."[19]
Despite her previous defense of the film'snudity, asserting that it was done "tastefully" and was "needed for the film",[20] Hussey, along with Whiting, filed a lawsuit on 3 January 2023 in the Los Angeles County Superior Court against Paramount Pictures for US$500 million, alleging sexual abuse, sexual harassment and fraud, and for allowing Zeffirelli to film them in the nude without their knowledge.[21] The suit alleges that the actors feel this caused them to suffer through emotional damage and mental anguish for decades after the film's success, and left them with careers that failed to reflect that success.[22][23][24] Zeffirelli's son responded to the lawsuit critically, calling it "embarrassing" that Hussey and Whiting filed the suit "55 years after filming" and that they owe their entire careers to the success of the film.[25][26]
The lawsuit was later dismissed on 25 May 2023, by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Alison Mackenzie, who stated that the case did not meet the requirements for suspending the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse. Mackenzie also criticized the plaintiffs for "cherry picking" which statutes applied to their case.[27] Hussey and Whiting are allegedly planning to appeal the ruling, as well as file a separate lawsuit based on a much more "recentCriterion DVD release of the film which would not be affected by the statute of limitations."[28]
A second lawsuit was dismissed on 21 October 2024, by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Holly J. Fujie, in which Hussey and Whiting claimed that the Criterion physical media release triggered a new statute of limitations. The new lawsuit was filed under state and federal laws intended to combat "revenge pornography", which prohibit non-consensual distribution of intimate images. Judge Fujie stated in full, "A comparison of the 2023 release with the prior versions shows no significant visible improvement in the film, particularly in the bedroom scene, to the naked eye. Even in the absence of express consent, however, Plaintiffs' subsequent conduct in the decades that followed since the film's original 1968 release speaks to Plaintiffs' implied ratification and approval of the film, including the bedroom scene. This includes, among others, appearances and statements made by Plaintiffs during interviews and attendance at film festivals, during which Plaintiffs did not object to the continuing release and distribution of the successive releases of the film."[29]
Two releases of the score of the film, composed byNino Rota, have been made.[30][31]
The film's "Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet" was widely disseminated, notably in "Our Tune", a segment ofSimon Bates's radio show. In addition, various versions of the theme have been recorded and released, including a highly successful one byHenry Mancini, whose instrumental rendition was a success in the United States during June 1969.[32]
There are two different sets of English lyrics to the song.
A third version called "Ai Giochi Addio", featuring lyrics byElsa Morante and sung in the Italian version by Bruno Filippini, who plays the minstrel in the film, has been performed by opera singers such asLuciano Pavarotti andNatasha Marsh.
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