I’m batting 0 for 2 now as far as the Top Movies of 1968 go, over on the Britannica Blog. Number 9 is up and it’s Franco Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet. While I have seen it, I recall it only vaguely because I think I’ve only seen it once and that was way back when it came out, or within a few years of that - a very long time ago.

Strangely, I’ve intended to pick this movie up and watch it for years but keep putting it off. I’m not sure why. Some years back I went through a “Shakespeare on film” phase, something that recurs with me, and went through quite a few cinematic interpretations of “The Bard.” (Sorry. I, too, can’t stand it when people refer to Shakespeare as “The Bard.”)

As I mentioned in the comments over at Britannica, the first “Shakespeare on film” that I really enjoyed was Kenneth Branagh’s “Much Ado About Nothing.” My enjoyment, I think, was in part because I so quickly stopped thinking in terms of, “This is Shakespeare,” and started simply enjoying it as a movie. And I think that was due to Branagh’s direction, which was so clearly cinematic, as opposed to a camera capturing a stage performance, or an approximation of a stage performance. Also, partly due to the play itself but also due to the wonderful performances, the film was so damned exuberant! I loved it.

One last thing … In Branagh’s movie, because it was so clearly cinema, I found I was able to enjoy Shakespeare’s language, perhaps because I was able to understand the context of the words more viscerally than I was used to at that point.

Hmm … This is the second day when I’ve discussed one film because I couldn’t really venture an opinion on the film up for discussion.

Maybe tomorrow!

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