Romeo and Juliet - Franco Zeffirelli (1968)

A whole series of sensors are constantly tuned to frequencies, scanning the environment in search of a response. At the same time, stimuli that we do not fully understand yet constantly emit signals to the sensors of other people. Sometimes sensors and stimuli manage to communicate, following rules that are still unknown, and from here on, a whole hormonal process managed by three distinct areas of the brain is activated in stages, in this order: desire, attraction, and profound emotion. The segregation of estrogen and testosterone leads to the release of adrenaline responsible for major emotional sensations (desire); in the second phase (attraction), dopamine comes into play, and then everything is completed by the level of perception and education of each subject (profound emotion).

Science has identified the exact components of the substances that participate in this process and suspects that other organs may directly intervene in the mechanism. It's called Love, and as it seems, it's just chemistry.

Nowadays, Love is often easily confused with many other things, used as merchandise, a tool for persuasion and manipulation, as it can be easily simulated (even by less skilled individuals), and because it often comes with side effects such as temporary loss of reason and logic, chronology, hierarchies, property, or wealth, etc.

However, when Love is genuine, it is devastating and by far the most powerful in intensity among all possible emotions. The one that follows it in the ranking, "hate," is just a derivative and a consequence.

Romeo and Juliet are names that, when associated, are equivalent in semantic value to the meaning of the word "love."

Franco Zeffirelli's film achieves the best adaptation ever made of any of Shakespeare's works, as it takes love seriously. Everything is so natural in this film that we forget about the plot, forget about the tragedy, and forget about the great literature... We simply experience the unfolding of the event, mostly due to the miraculous choice of the two actors. In finding them, Zeffirelli interviewed hundreds of candidates.

When you go to see a film based on a Shakespearean play, you already leave home prepared with several expectations... You know that there are certain moments to watch for, and you eagerly anticipate discovering the director's interpretation of them... but in this film? Everyone forgets about them.

They are young, they are beautiful, and they manage to convey that naivety and total abandon that are characteristic of first love...Memorable composition suggesting love at first sight from the ballroom scene...doubled in the background by the theme melody.

Fantastic performance of Juliet's actress, extraordinary tracking shot, brilliant idea to focus on the joining of hands...you can't even tell how much of it is Zeffirelli's and how much is Shakespeare's...

The way the scenes are placed in the everyday life of that time, through the reconstitution of common settings, is remarkable and impressively sincere; and the careful use of dominant colors is a playful trick that proves to be fully functional...

Discreet camera work with textbook techniques, some bold approaches (the balcony scene, where an attempt is made to balance the top/bottom dimensions that could alter the message), and others in line with the dynamism of the action (handheld shots with rapid changes in angles during the duel scene) make this production equally good in each of its frames.

With a soundtrack (by Nino Rota) firmly controlled by the song "What Is a Youth" (with lyrics by Eugene Walter and delicately performed by Glen Weston), which held the top spot in many charts around the world for weeks on end, it's no surprise that this film received two Oscars, three Golden Globes, and two BAFTA awards.

Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this? - Romeo