Letters to Juliet
| Rating: | ★★★★ |
| Category: | Movies |
| Genre: | Romantic Comedy |
Gary Winick
Stars:
Amanda Seyfried, Christopher Egan, Gael Garcia Bernal, Vanessa Redgrave, and Franco Nero
Synopsis:
When a young American travels to the city of Verona, home of the star-crossed lover Juliet Capulet of Romeo and Juliet fame, she joins a group of volunteers who respond to letters to Juliet seeking advice about love. After answering one letter dated 1951, she inspires its author to travel to Italy in search of her long-lost love and sets off a chain of events that will bring a love into both their lives unlike anything they ever imagined
My Take:
This would have been 5 stars for me save for the fact that it was a poor comedy, i.e. there were really a few laughs and the dialogue wasn't that witty either. But it's 4 stars because of the romance. And there was an abundance of it. For how can one not feel romantic with the postcard perfect setting of Verona, Italy, the city where Shakespeare's story of everlasting love between Romeo and Juliet was set! How can one not feel romantic at the sight of all those undulating hills of vineyards where the sweetest of Italian wines come from. And how can one not feel romantic when Sir Lancelot and Queen Guenevere of the magical Camelot are once again reunited, the real-life husband and wife Franco Nero and Vanessa Redgrave, in a story that echoes their real-life romance.
Take Verona out of the picture, delete those breath taking views of the Italian countryside, and substitute Vanessa and Franco with Sophia Loren and Omar Shariff, and you take the romance and magic out of this story. And what will remain will be a painful attempt at comedy which the lead female and male actors, i.e. Amanda Seyfried and Christopher Egan, obviously are uncomfortable with.
On a side note, while I am quite familiar with the story of the Capulets and the Montagues, this is the first time I've seen the real, true-to-life balcony where Shakespeare's most famous quote of Juliet was spoken. And it is also the first time I learned of a "Juliet Wall" or the "Wall of Love" where one can make a special love request by writing it on a piece of paper and sticking* it on the wall (right under the famed balcony in Juliet's house in Verona, Italy) and the request will be granted. NOTE: The accompanying picture in this review is not a promotional poster of the movie but is an actual photo of the said wall as it looks today (taken by a tourist).
If anyone here would like to catch that romantic mood, then head off to your favorite cinema. TIP (for Philippines only): If you have a receipt in the amount of P1,500.00 via your Citibank credit card, you can avail of a big discount when you watch this movie.
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* Don't ask me how they stick those pieces of paper on the wall. It's quite disgusting! Yuck!!
this film interest me, I've heard from two friends already..the setting is interestng..of course, they filmed it in Florence, Verona (above all, there's the house of the original Julieta and Romeo) and around Umbria I think..dreaming na naman ako of these places..
ReplyDeletethe wall is very interesting..it's full of notes..totoo yan..
ReplyDeleteBut the real story didn't develop as heroic as Shakepeare's version..the truth is Juliet and Romeo are feudal families..
ang daming tao dyan sa may wall and balcon..
ReplyDeleteWell then what are you waiting for Nons? By the way, I think the young girls will enjoy this movie the most. Maybe you can bring your Anna along?
ReplyDeleteHere's the trailer. It may already give you a general idea of the entire movie itself. But who cares.
Yes. Many think that Romeo and Juliet is all about love. But the story is more than that. It's a very Italian story of one clan versus another. Very much like the Mafia families in more recent times of their country's history.
ReplyDeleteI have a girl crush on Amanda Seyfried =) She's seew prettie!
ReplyDeleteTochie, question...bakit Sophia and Omar ang ginawa mong example as a substitue? curious lang :-)
ReplyDeleteand nanood ka ba ng Sex and the City 2? *grin*
ReplyDeleteNo I did not. No, not even the TV series version. Because I'm not really a fan of any of the "girls." And more so because the story line is not really something I feel comfortable with. Let's just say, it's too American for my taste.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, I meant to say Julie Christie, and the movie I was alluding to was one made in 1965 - Dr. Zhivago. Omar and Julie are two of the other love tandems that I think is also great. But theirs is the more passionate epochal type of love (encompassing World War One, the Russian Revolution and the Russian Civil War during Tsar Nicholas' reign).
ReplyDeleteI probably will like this based on your review, Toch...and because I like Vanessa Redgrave a lot. I also loved her and Nero in Camelot (although I was rooting for King Arthur/R. Harris) and glad the two finally married in real life.
ReplyDeleteAng lungkot naman ng mga ending ng Camelot and Dr, Zhivago...kaya siguro ayoko na ma-in love...lol.
Meron akong alam na singing group na anim ang members. They are composed of young and newly ordained priests who are all assigned here in Metro Manila but hail mostly from the Visayas region. Ang pangalan ng grupo nila is... Six in the City :-)
ReplyDeletePara sa akin, mas okay si Vanessa Redgrave and Franco Nero (mas exciting kasi ang forbidden love...hehehehe)
ReplyDeleteLOL ....tempted to comment,pero 'wag na....alam ko nasa isip na ninyo yung malicia ko.
ReplyDeleteEh, paano kung ang ma-meet mo ay ala Tom Hanks in the movie, "You've Got Mail," or "Sleepless in Seattle," aver? Happy ending ang mga yun, diba?
ReplyDeleteCan hear you humming "Verboten."
ReplyDeleteThat would be wunderbar...pero fairy tale yata 'yan.
ReplyDeleteHi, Marie. Date movie ito! Grab your date na! Tell him to forget being so aktibista muna.
ReplyDeleteMalay mo naman.
ReplyDeleteAs the song goes, "...Fairy tale can come true, it can happen to you, if you're young at heart..."
young at heart mp3 | lyricsfree music downloads | music videos | pictures
Uy, si Coogie 'yan.........young only at heart talaga when he sang that song.
ReplyDeleteSige, hahanap ako ng verboten na happening. (^_^)
Oops, si Durante pala....ganun din...young only at heart.
I see...well matindi nga yung Dr. Zhivago...kaya pala di ko ma-match...
ReplyDeletePinoy humor at its usual best....*wink*
ReplyDeleteI happen to love yung mga spoofs and play on words..maski sa tshirt..
you can PM it to me *grin*
ReplyDeletekc di ko alam (honest!)
not to slap those movies away Tochie (I enjoyed both...and even the orig one where You''ve Got Mail is based on)...but di pa parang lightweight lang yon in comparison to Dr. Z and the other great love stories?
ReplyDeleteor baka naman its precisely those unhappy endings which mark them as great love stories?
I saw the trailer in the moviehouse and I've got only one comment: The two geriatrics, Nero and
ReplyDeleteRedgrave, are HOT! =)
thanks for posting the trailer, i did see it once, but won't get tired of it..
ReplyDeletehahah..Chito, am sure Anna will watch it with friends..:) but who knows? Hollywood films are later shown here..Phils. get them in advance..
Just seeing the main city of Verona, makes me miss it so much!
ReplyDeletebebelgam? =P
ReplyDeleteYup!
ReplyDeleteWe're comparing apples with oranges here, Cat. The Tom Hanks starrers were in the realm of comedy while Camelot and specially Dr. Zhivago are not just romance but epic romance.
ReplyDeleteAnd you're right, the tragic even bitter flavor at the end of these great romances make them nothing less than great memorable tales of love. That is why all those broken loves in my merry past are thoughts I won't tire of revisiting and re-living.
Yes, Gwiz, smoking hot!
ReplyDeleteBaka available na sa DVD, Nons.
ReplyDeletekaya nga siguro sabi ni Mommy Peachy na ayaw na nya ma-inlove...basing on the Dr Z-like love stories....
ReplyDeleteSige, paglaki mo, sasabihin ko sa 'yo....lol...mwah.
ReplyDeleteActually, hindi pa yata ako talagang na-in love ng "all the way"...naks, kanta din 'yan.
ReplyDeleteI really doubt that, Peachy. Para sa akin, lahat ng love ay "all the way." There's no such thing as half in-love or semi-love (sa tennis lang nga yata ito ginagamit). It's either you do or you don't. No ifs. No buts.
ReplyDeleteJust to clarify Cat. In my case, it's always a joy to revisit these experiences (now) no matter how bitter such experience may have been.
ReplyDeletei loved the trailer, setting pa lang, sold na ako. will definitely watch-out for it. this is one of those times i wish guela was big enough to enjoy such movies, but then again, i'm sure she wouldn't want to watch it with her mom, noh. sigh...
ReplyDeleteAnong tawag dun sa "I love you, BUT I don't want you"?
ReplyDeletereality bites....LOL
ReplyDeleteAs I said, no ifs and no buts. This "I love you, but I don't want you," is a "diplomatic" form of an I-don't-love-you stand. In other words, it's a masquerade. (Parang kanta din yata ito, ah).
ReplyDeleteEwan ko lang. Sa totoo lang, Chiara, when I went to see the movie, I was with my youngest daughter. And we discussed/talked about it after the movie. So, I don't think it would be embarrassing (if that's what you meant).
ReplyDeleteOne has to be totally not in love to feel reality bite. Because if one is in-love, there is no other reality but that which is felt/experienced in the moment.
ReplyDeleteAnother kanta that I'm reminded of..."Two Out of Three Ain't Bad"...one of my favorites, especially when sung by Meatloaf in the 70s.
ReplyDelete(Spanish lesson for Cat muna...she's brushing up on Spanish.)
Te deseo
Te necesito
Pero nunca te querré
Pero no estés triste
Porque dos o tres
No está mal
I want you
I need you
But there ain't no way
I'm ever gonna love you
But don't be sad
Two out of three ain't bad.
can't "need" be considered more intense than love?
ReplyDeleteThey're probably apples and oranges...pero tanungin natin si Dr. Toch because I can't really relate to any of those "conditions" (in the romantic sense) these days.
ReplyDeleteBTW, welcome back from vacation, Cat.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, either one can be more intense than the other depending on the situation. Need is instinctive while love is intuitive. If everything is about survival then all we have are needs. But if it is about living, then love rules.
ReplyDelete*By the way, whatever did I do to deserve this "title?" Whether it is the state of the heart, or affairs of the heart, it is not the state of affairs of which I may merit consultation or may dispense advice. And I doubt that anyone who has given love and received love in return, will be unable to "really relate" about romantic issues. A "refusal to relate" would rather be a more apt description.*
So read this comment every two hours and call me in the morning. Ok?
thanks Peachy Mommy *touches red arms gingerly*...waah..freckles ang pasaulbong ko...
ReplyDeleteHaha, touché, Dr. Toch.
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing that you didn't take the proper precautions before you went out in the sun.
ReplyDeleteactually, even f I thought it was going to be all rain there, I managed to push an SPF15 lotion inside my bag...
ReplyDeletebut I sweated so much that the lotion I applied just kept on running off in like a flood of water