Romeo and Juliet

The location photography and the beautiful score from Nino Rota help make this, for my money, the best screen adaptation of this most tragic of Shakesperian tragedies. Add to those classic elements, a really strong cast that mixes new blood with those more experienced and we get a properly heart-rending iteration. The constantly feuding "Montague" and "Capulet" families dominate society in Verona. Despite this long standing animosity, the curious and charming young "Romeo" (Leonard Whiting) risks life and limb to attend the "Capulet" masked ball. It is there that he encounters the beauty that is "Juliet" (Olivia Hussey) and the two embark on a relationship that puts both themselves and their friends in great peril. Over the course of the ne...

Another fine adaptation of the Bard's masterpiece.

William Shakespeare is an author of all time. Everyone knows him, everyone considers him, even those who don't speak native English. It is a universal heritage, and Romeo and Juliet is his most important work. There is no end to the number of film adaptations: basically, Romeo and Juliet has been adapted to film for as long as cinema has existed. And it's hard to choose which one is the best, each one has its merits and demerits. I have some preferences, but I'm not going to lie, this adaptation deserves to be among the best.

It's pretty obvious that Franco Zeffirelli tried everything to be absolutely faithful to the material and give us something realistic and powerful. In additi...