Parting is such sweet sorrow
My only love sprung from my only
hate, too early seen unknown, and known too late! Oh! Prodigious
birth of love it is to me that I must love a loathed enemy. ~Juliet
The sweetest sorrow in all the world must be to love
completely with your entire heart and then never to be able to
be with the one you love. To be dead would seem better than
living with the pain of parting or of never meeting again. The
love in this movie drives Romeo and Juliet towards their fate.
In this poignant drama of doomed lovers, Romeo (Leonard
Whiting) and Juliet (Olivia Hussey) fall in love instantly and
obsessively want to create the mythology of their own lives.
Have there ever been any two lovers who acted so rashly and paid
so dearly for their passion? They seem far too young to be
flirting with life and death and yet their reticence is almost
conquered by their overwhelming desires to be together so soon
after they meet.
Romeo and Juliet exchange some of the richest and most well
known dialogues in the history of literature. The acting is
ardent and authentic.
I almost love the cute silly lines as much as the deeply
passionate ones.
Juliet: I will not fail:
‘tis twenty years till then.
I have forgot why I did call thee back.
Romeo: Let me stand here till
thou remember it.
Juliet: I shall forget, to
have thee stand there,
Remembering how I love thy company.
Romeo: And I’ll still stay,
to have thee still forget.
The “Balcony Scene” is perhaps the most romantic, erotic,
spicy, innocent and exciting scene in any movie every made.
During this scene they decide to wed before they bed. The bawdy
nurse sympathizes with the lovers and helps to arrange the
marriage.
The true tragedy stems from the forbidden quality of their
love. They are the children of the Montagues and the Capulets,
feuding families.
This movie seems "mostly" to be about young love,
but also brings our awareness to the fact that love can kill as
easily as hate. The movie is emotionally charged from the start
and continues to be charged with lust, love, hate, jealousy and
just about any emotion you can imagine.
While Romeo and Juliet are falling madly in love, many of the
other characters seem to be going mad. Dueling is found
throughout this movie and contributes to the utter tragedy of
hate in its most vile form. While we do not wish for anyone’s
death, I was quite happy when Mercutio left us to rest in peace.
Although, I did enjoy his “Queen Mab speech.” His
contribution to the movie was otherwise irritating, yet I guess
he seemed to be going mad from being out in the sun too much.
“True, I talk of dreams; which are
the children of an idle brain, begot of nothing but vain
fantasy; which is as thin of substance as the air, and more
inconstant than the wind who woos even now the frozen bosom of
the north, and being angered puffs away from thence, turning his
side to the dew-dropping south.”
This is a very human tragedy. Anyone who has gone through the
experience of falling in love at a young age will relate. There
are elements of ideal love, rebellion against parents and the
excitement of new discoveries that appeal to us all. Juliet
completely rebels when her father proposes an arranged marriage.
Her tantrum scene is rather memorable.
This movie was filmed in the sun drenched towns of Italy and
is beyond lavish. I could watch this over and over again just
for the Renaissance costumes, the scenes of Italy and the
chambers, fountains and churches. Not to mention choreographed
dance sequences, jewels, food in the market scenes and the
lovely Olivia Hussey.
So many scenes could be paintings. The cinematic elements
exceeded all my expectations. Zeffirelli’s “Romeo and
Juliet” is perhaps one of the finest films ever made and is
now my favorite Shakespearean adaptation.
Yes love might be sweeter than honey and as bitter as gall
and sad hours can seem very long.
~The Rebecca Review
Chunhyang
(Korean
Romeo & Juliet)
 
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Dreamy
Vanilla Honey, April 4, 2007