• About
  • Cats Dig Hemingway
  • Guest Bookings
  • John King’s Publications
  • Literary Memes
  • Podcast Episode Guide
  • Store!
  • The Rogue’s Guide to Shakespeare on Film
  • Videos
  • Writing Craft Discussions

The Drunken Odyssey

~ A Podcast About the Writing Life

The Drunken Odyssey

Tag Archives: Paul Giamatti

The Rogue’s Guide to Shakespeare on Film #66: Romeo and Juliet (2013)

03 Sunday Dec 2017

Posted by thedrunkenodyssey in Film, Shakespeare, The Rogue's Guide to Shakespeare on Film

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Architecture porn, Carlo Carlei, Christian Cooke, Damian Lewis, Douglas Booth, Ed Westwick, Hailee Steinfeld, Julian Fellowes, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Natascha McElhone, Paul Giamatti, Romeo and Juliet

Rogues Guide to Shakes on Film 2

66. Carlo Carlei’s Romeo and Juliet (2013)

Why does Carlo Carlei’s Romeo and Juliet make me cranky?

Romeo and Juliet 8

I think part of the problem is that David Tattersall’s camera is a little too enamored with the posh art direction of Gianpaolo Rifino and Armando Savoia. These Renaissance mansions of Verona make our best museums look like hovels, with nearly all of the numerous servants necessary for the upkeep of such mansions mostly banished from sight. The actors and Shakespeare’s words are chiefly there just to serve the imagery. This Romeo and Juliet is architecture porn.

Some of it is churches, but only the iconography gives that away.

Romeo and Juliet 7

The principal young male actors, too, seem cast for their photogenic dreaminess—human architecture. Ed Westwick as Tybalt looks like the lovechild of a young Johnny Depp and Antonio Banderas.

IMG_1325.CR2

His aquiline nose, fiercely arching eyebrows, big jaw, and long hair make him seem like a pre-Raphaelite dream.

Romeo and Juliet 2

Douglas Booth as Romeo looks like a beautiful mannequin, with large cheekbones and full pouty lips.

Romeo and Juliet 10

Christian Cooke as Tybalt is darkly, dashingly handsome, an ever-so-slightly gothic touch.

Romeo and Juliet 4

Oh, yes, Hailee Steinfeld was 16 when she portrayed Juliet, and almost looks like she could be thirteen, as the text dictates. She looks sort of androgynous, like Kodi Smit-McPhee who plays Benvolio.

Romeo and Juliet 11

Just in case one can overlook how beautiful this tragedy is supposed to look (kind of like a grand opera), Abel Korzeniowski’s score sounds like what might happen if Yanni performed some variations of soap opera themes with a dash of Michael Nyman or Philip Glass.

The effect is more depressing than tragic, if you ask me.

One odder thing into this mix is how Julian Fellowes would rewrite minor elements of the plot to make the story seem even more tragic than Shakespeare made it. Perhaps he suspected how little relevance the story would have in such an unrelenting cinematic aesthetic of excruciating beauty.

If so many actors blend into the cheesy music and opulent scenery, the fault isn’t necessarily theirs. The performances are quite satisfactory—the acting never demolishes the film. Douglas Booth may look like a mannequin, but he doesn’t act like one.

Romeo and Juliet 5

And some veteran actors like Paul Giamatti (the Friar), Damian Lewis (Lord Capulet), and Natascha McElhone (Lady Capulet) contribute wonderfully.

Romeo and Juliet 9

Westwick and Cooke make great foes.

Romeo and Juliet 12

If you are much younger than I am (perhaps you haven’t been born yet), and long to see a Romeo and Juliet presented as an Italian soap opera version of a Renaissance fairy tale, then this is the movie for you.

At its worst, it’s still infinitely preferable to Romeo + Juliet, which you should only watch if you’ve been kicked in the head by a mule.


1flip

John King (Episode, well, all of them) holds a PhD in English from Purdue University, and an MFA from New York University. He has reviewed performances for Shakespeare Bulletin.

Scribophile, the online writing group for serious writers

Online, shop here:

If you must, shop Amazon and help the show.

Audible.com

Blogs

Not forgotten

Categories

  • 21st Century Bronte
  • A Word from the King
  • Aesthetic Drift
  • animation
  • Anime
  • Art
  • Autobiography
  • AWP
  • Biography
  • Blog Post
  • Bloomsday
  • Buddhism
  • Buzzed Books
  • Cheryl Strayed
  • Children's Literature
  • Christmas
  • Christmas literature
  • Comedy
  • Comic Books
  • Comics Are Trying to Break Your Heart
  • Craft of Fiction Writing
  • Creative Nonfiction
  • David Foster Wallace
  • David James Poissant
  • David Lynch
  • David Sedaris
  • Disney
  • Dispatches from the Funkstown Clarion
  • Doctor Who
  • Drinking
  • Dungeons and Dragons
  • Editing
  • Education
  • Episode
  • Erotic Literature
  • Essay
  • Fan Fiction
  • Fantasy
  • Feminism
  • Film
  • Film Commentary
  • Flash Fiction
  • Florida Literature
  • Francesca Lia Block
  • Functionally Literate
  • Ghost writing
  • Graphic Novels
  • Gutter Space
  • Help me!
  • Heroes Never Rust
  • History
  • Horror
  • Humor
  • Hunter S. Thompson
  • In Boozo Veritas
  • Irish Literature
  • Jack Kerouac
  • James Bond
  • James Joyce
  • Jazz
  • Journalism
  • Kerouac House
  • Kung Fu
  • Like a Geek God
  • Literary Criticism
  • Literary Magazines
  • Literary Prizes
  • Literary rizes
  • Literature of Florida
  • Litlando
  • Live Show
  • Loading the Canon
  • Loose Lips Reading Series
  • Lost Chords & Serenades Divine
  • Magic Realism
  • Mailbag
  • manga
  • McMillan's Codex
  • Memoir
  • Miami Book Fair
  • Michael Caine
  • Military Literature
  • Mixtape
  • Music
  • New York City
  • O, Miami
  • Old Poem Revue
  • On Top of It
  • Pensive Prowler
  • Philosophy
  • Photography
  • Poetry
  • politics
  • Postmodernism
  • Publishing
  • Recommendation
  • Repeal Day
  • science
  • Science Fiction
  • Screenwriting
  • Sexuality
  • Shakespeare
  • Shakespearing
  • Sozzled Scribbler
  • Sports
  • Star Wars
  • Television
  • The Bible
  • The Curator of Schlock
  • The Global Barfly's Companion
  • The Lists
  • The Perfect Life
  • The Pink Fire Revue
  • The Rogue's Guide to Shakespeare on Film
  • Theater
  • There Will Be Words
  • translation
  • Travel Writing
  • Vanessa Blakeslee
  • Versify
  • Video Games
  • Violence
  • Virginia Woolf
  • War
  • Westerns
  • Word From the King
  • Young Adult
  • Your Next Beach Read
  • Zombies

Recent Posts

  • Comics Are Trying to Break Your Heart #175
  • Episode 523: Aaron Angello!
  • The Curator of Schlock #381: The Driver
  • Comics Are Trying to Break Your Heart #174: Reaping Benefits
  • The Perfect Life #40: Allergic to Love

Archives

  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • The Drunken Odyssey
    • Join 3,107 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • The Drunken Odyssey
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...