Love Story For The Ages?

Last day of term today – yay!
Sweet Bean has worked very hard, with the result being that all his assessments were in on time and today we were able to watch “Romeo and Juliet“, his English text for next term. The link he was given wasn’t very useful, so we ended up watching a BBC adaptation from 1978. Here’s the balcony scene…

It’s nearly three hours long, so we made popcorn and brought out the bikkies. I inadvertently put the subtitles on, but that ended up helping us keep up with the dialogue.
What did I think of it?
It’s the play most people think of when they think of Shakespeare, and the epitome of doomed love and great romance. And yet…
Perhaps I’m getting old. I found myself getting irritated by all the teenage emoting. When I was apparently meant to feel the weight of their great love through flowery speech I just felt like shouting “Get a grip!! Where’s your sense of PROPORTION!!!” I also may have shed a tear when Juliet’s parents (and nurse) find her “dead” on the morning of her wedding to Paris – that affected me far more.
On the other hand, I do appreciate the poetry and artistry involved, and that there are layers to the play. All in all, it was worthwhile watching it, and interesting to discuss later. But… young love? More like an infatuation of less than a week, with six people dead by the end of it. Hardly a story to aspire to.

Well, tomorrow’s the start of the holidays. Sweet Bean’s excited about being able to sleep in (and so am I!) Lots of books waiting to be read!