Romeo e Giulietta
About Romeo e Giulietta
Romeo Montecchi and Giulietta Capuleti fall in love across a feud in Verona. An old monk marries them in secret. Tebaldo picks a fight and Romeo wounds him, then is banished and sees Giulietta once more before he leaves. Her father still orders her to marry Tebaldo. The monk gives her a drink that makes her seem dead for a day. Romeo, told she is dead, returns, finds her asleep, and kills himself. She wakes, and stabs herself over his body.
Cast & crew
More about Romeo e Giulietta
Augusto Genina adapted Shakespeare. Ugo Falena directed and photographed the Film d’Arte Italiana picture, which Pathé Frères also handled and colored with its Pathécolor stencil process. The German Wikipedia gives the original length as 725 meters, about 37 minutes at 17 frames per second, with 16 intertitles. Italy’s premiere was 25 January 1912.
Themes
Audiences
On 3 January 1913 the film played the Alhambra in Milwaukee. Manager Samuel Rothafel wrote a new accompaniment and dressed singers in period costumes.
Look
Ugo Falena photographed the film in Rome. Pathé colored prints with its stencil process, Pathécolor.
Music
Silent, with 16 intertitles. For the Milwaukee Alhambra showing on 3 January 1913, Samuel Rothafel supplied a new musical accompaniment.
Preservation
A print survives. The Nederlands Filmmuseum restored it on film in 1997. In 2003 ZZ Productions and the EYE Film Instituut Nederland made a digital restoration from material at the Museo Nazionale del Cinema in Turin, Gosfilmofond in Moscow, and the Library of Congress. The German Wikipedia gives that version as 653 meters, about 32 minutes at 18 frames per second. It is in the public domain in the United States.
Notes
- Gustavo Serena plays Romeo. Francesca Bertini plays Giulietta. The German Wikipedia calls this Serena’s first film role.
- Silent Era lists Ferruccio Garavaglia as Tebaldo. The German Wikipedia assigns Tebaldo to Giovanni Pezzinga.
- Silent Era and kinotv.com also name Gerolamo Lo Savio beside Falena. The German Wikipedia’s Lehmann citation credits Falena alone.
- The General Film Company released it in the United States on 3 January 1913.
- Berlin’s censorship office passed it for young viewers on 6 January 1912 (Nos. 15528 and 15529). The Munich police barred youth admission (Nos. 7682 and 7683).
Scenes
- The monk marries Romeo and Giulietta in secret.
- Giulietta drinks the potion and is thought dead.
- Romeo kills himself beside her sleeping body, and she stabs herself when she wakes.
Influenced by
- William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (Romeo e Giulietta (1912).webm)
