When William Shakespeare wrote The Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet in the late 16th century, he likely never imagined that nearly 500 years later, filmmakers would still be scrambling to translate his verse onto the silver screen. From Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 classic to Baz Luhrmann’s chaotic 1996 Romeo + Juliet , each generation reinvents the star-crossed lovers for its own audience.
For Portuguese-speaking audiences (), the film holds a special place because it was widely distributed in Brazil and Portugal via streaming platforms (Netflix acquired the rights in many territories shortly after its theatrical run). The dubbing in Brazilian Portuguese is particularly praised for preserving the poetic rhythm while simplifying the archaic vocabulary. Conclusion: Is It Worth Watching? Yes, with caveats.
In 2013, director Carlo Carlei stepped into this daunting arena with his version: Romeo & Juliet . Released in Italy as Giulietta e Romeo and known in Portuguese-speaking markets as , this film attempted to strip away the modern gimmicks and return to a more traditional, lush, period-authentic adaptation. But did it succeed? Let’s dissect the film’s production, cast, reception, and its unique place in the long lineage of Shakespearean cinema. The Genesis of the Project: Going Back to Basics After the hyper-kinetic, MTV-style editing of Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 film (which featured guns, drugs, and a Hawaiian-shirted Mercutio), audiences and critics alike wondered where a new adaptation could possibly go. Producer Julian Fellowes—famous for Downton Abbey —decided the answer was simple: go backwards.
Fellowes penned the screenplay with the goal of making Shakespeare accessible without dumbing it down. Unlike Luhrmann, who kept the original Elizabethan dialogue but set it in a fictional modern city (Verona Beach), Fellowes and Carlei chose to maintain the original 16th-century Italian setting. The goal was authenticity: real castles, real period costumes, and a return to the romance at the story’s core, rather than the frantic energy.
