Lucky Lovers

"Better to burn out than to rust."
 Neil Young

This past weekend, it being rainy, cold and unplanned, I indulged myself by watching two of my many favorite films. The first was the 90's hit,"Shakespeare In Love". What a pure delight! Tom Stoppard is one of those writers who makes me think I should confine my writing to emails, grocery lists and the occasional letter to the editor. He is brilliant, witty and just plain smart. The masterpiece script aside, the movie was wonderfully directed, acted and filmed. (Doubtless my love of the film is in part due to the fact that I could watch Gwyneth Paltrow 'til the cows come home. Besides possessing a unique beauty she is, IMHO, perhaps the best actress of her day.) This film is tied with "As Good as it Gets" as my all time favorite romantic comedy.

"Shakespeare in Love" naturally led me to my second DVD - something from my youth: Franco Zeffirelli's "Romeo and Juliet". I imagine this play is regarded by most Shakespeare experts as one of The Bard's lighter, less significant, works but I have always loved it. Mind you, I am a hopeless romantic on the level of a sighing middle-school girl, so perhaps it is to be expected. The play has been filmed many times but this particular version is particularly enchanting, in large part because of the actual youth of the lead characters. It also introduced the movie world to Michael York, a hugely under-appreciated and under-exposed actor, and is worthwhile for just that. Granted, Zeffireli did take some liberties - actually eliminating a scene or two - but I personally think his choices were wise.

I have seen the film many times but this time, as it ended with the Chorus' famous line "For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo" the most peculiar thought entered my mind. Usually I'm on the verge of tears. This time though I thought:

"Wow. These guys were so lucky! Madly, hopelessly, to the core of their beings, in love for a few days and then dead! Dead, before they can come to discover that the cute little way the other curls an eyebrow or eats his/her spaghetti has, with time and familiarity, become something that makes them want to smash the other's face in. Dead before they wake up in the morning, look to the side and think 'Shit. Still here!' Dead before they are consulting friends and the yellow pages for the name of the most cutthroat divorce lawyer in town."

Oh happy dagger, indeed. A perfect love story.

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There is something I find amusing, in a sick way, about this latter film. In the play as written, Juliet is 13 and Romeo 14. In this case the actors themselves were both underage - perhaps 14 and 15; I don't recall exactly. Finally, both actors appear nude - Leonard Whitting's bare ass in plain view and Olivia Hussey's boobs. I could be wrong, and feel free to correct me if I am, but, by my interpretation, all three of the above points violate Canadian and American child pornography law, and the producer, director, cameramen and others associated with filming Romeo and Juliet were criminals and should have been in jail.

As Mr. Dickens once said… (At least sometimes)The law is an ass.