Romeo and Juliet (1968)

Academy Awards, USA 1969

Winner Oscar	Best Cinematography Pasqualino De Santis
	Best Costume Design Danilo Donati
Nominee Oscar	Best Picture Anthony Havelock-Allan John Brabourne
	Best Director Franco Zeffirelli

Paramount
Directed by Franco Zeffirelli
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(DVD, Paramount)

Two teenagers fall in love in medieval Italy, but happen to be from families whose longstanding feud leads to frequent street brawls. Her flirtations cause her cousin to challenge Romeo to a duel. He resists, but his friend fights instead, leading to his death, and later the death of her cousin in another duel. Romeo is banished from the town, causing Juliet much grief. Her parents, unaware they have been secretly married, try to arrange a marriage for her with a wealthy aristocrat. Unable to dissuade them, she concocts a plan with a friend of Romeo to fake her own death. More tragedy ensues. While it may be faithful to Shakespeare, the dialogue is often too confusing, if not outright unintelligible, and often yelled by its enthusiastic and youthful players. Disappointing.