What’s the Story?

Franco Zeffirelli's ambitious production of ROMEO AND JULIET brought Shakespeare to the masses in 1968. He did it not by dumbing the play down, but by casting two talented unknowns, Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey (ages seventeen and fifteen, respectively) as the leads. Much like Titanic would thirty years later, Romeo and Juliet struck a chord with teenagers, who found its beautiful young stars' urgency and tragic plight irresistible. Shot in Italy, Zeffirelli's faithful production of the tragedy also features a very young Michael York as Tybalt.

Is It Any Good?

Unlike the peculiar travesty Romeo + Juliet, in which Leonardo DiCaprio and others spew Shakespeare's lines without understanding them, Zefirelli's performers breathe understanding into every ornate phrase, translating the sixteenth- century prose into something fresh and modern.

When Romeo first spies Juliet, you believe--even before he speaks--that he's irreparably in love. Their balcony scene is wonderfully passionate, and the finale all the more potent for Laurence Olivier's uncredited narration. (But a cautionary note to parents: Teens may see the story as a glamorization of suicide and the subject is well worth discussing with them.)

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Cast & Film Details

Studio

Paramount Pictures

Director

Franco Zeffirelli

Cast

• Olivia Hussey
• Leonard Whiting
• Michael York

Genre

Drama

Run time

138 minutes

Theatrical release

1/7/2002

DVD release

1/7/2002

MPAA rating

PG

MPAA explanation

brief nudity and mature themes

For Your Family