Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #450 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-02-03
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish
• Dubbed in: French, German, Italian, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 132 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
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 centre 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

Special Features
1.85 Anamorphic Wide Screen
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital 5.1 English
Dolby Digital 5.1

Synopsis
Shakespeare's classic romance comes to stunning visual life in this modern interpretation.

Customer Reviews

Lovely... and a great teaching resource
I teach GCSE drama in a rough Saff London Comp and get the students hooked with Baz Lurhrmann's modern version of it and then to teach them more of what Shakespeare had in mind when he wrote the play, I show them this one by Zeffirelli - it works a treat. It is beautifully done, universal in its themes and appeal and the acting is rivitingly good - especially the very young and beautiful Olivia Hussy, though Michael York as a petulant Tybalt is equally good.

Beautiful Film with Splendid Theme
This is a beautiful film. When first I saw this film on television I thought Olivia Hussey wondrously vulnerable and quite the part as a 16-year old playing the 13-year old Juliet. Olivia Hussey is such a beauty that one can seriously imagine a Montague hazarding death to woo such a girl.

This is such a film of real depth and richness that I find it one of my very favourite. I have purchased it on VHS, now DVD, because I feel it is the essential Romeo & Juliet

Saw the film when it was first released
As a young man I was converted to Shakespeare by seeing this film directed by Franco Zeferelli. The magic for me was that instead of actors declaiming lines I felt I was involved with real people, places and circumstances.

Yesterday the film was shown on ITV3 and had 28 minutes of advertisements added to the 2hr 11 minutes running time.

Editing the film at fast speed made me appreciate the balletic movements of the cast location filming

Alas after editing I found the original recording from satellite had no sound on it.

Even although it was now a silent movie I was delighted to see again the beauty of the costumes, use of colour and the exquisite and careful composition. So pleased to find I could purchase a commercial DVD version at the low price of £5.97

Zeferelli's version of La Traviata could be a moving experience for those who say they don't like or understand opera