We Are Neither Romeo Nor Juliet (1969) Poster

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3/10
Dated and corny comedy by Alfonso Paso , including a good but really wasted support cast
ma-cortes18 February 2019
Peculiar rendition comedy about Shakespere's Romeo andJuliet , though it has nothing to do with the classy play . Dealing about ill-fated and star-crossed lovers and their two feuding families whose young sons , Roberto and Julia , meet and fall in love and whose passion for one another is irresistible . Roberto Negresco (Emilio Gutiérrez caba) lives with his parents Antonio (Antonio Martelo) and Trinidad (Florinda Chico) and works together with his father in a bar . He is an extremely naive person, which, together with a strange defect that prevents him from pronouncing the "p", makes him a very particular being. Julita Caporeto (Enriqueta Carballeira) lives with her parents , bus driver Nemesio (José Luis López Vázquez) and Charo (Laly Soldevilla) , and she is also a girl of unlimited ingenuity, to the point that, although she has been dating her boyfriend Cayetano for quite some time, she still does not know "how the children of Paris". In a game, Julita and Roberto fall in love with each other . There are many obstacles on the way and they have to hide their love from the world because both know which their parents will not allow them to be together .The problem is that there is a big obstacle between them : Their families are enmity for a long time ...

This is one of the worst filmed and most absurd adaptations of Shakespeare's play . Regularly-performed, though including some notorious actors , it is handicapped because the two protagonists are too old and idiot for the roles , creating the silliest couple of the Spanish cinema . This lousy version has the virtue of good and appealing casting, as the great José Luis López Vázquez , the always sympathetic Laly Soldevilla and the likeable Florinda Chico . Here stands out a decent secondary cast , such as : Manuel Tejada , Antonio Martelo , Xan das Bolas , Fernando Bilbao , Emilio Rodríguez , Pepe Rubio , among others . And a cameo for director Alfonso Paso himself in Hitchcock style . Furthermore , catching musical score by Manuel Parada , adding the famous song : ¨No somos ni Romeo , ni Julieta¨ sung by Laura , but it got to be on charts list thanks to singer Karina . In addition , an adequate and atmospheric cinematography by the prestigious Antonio Macasoli .

The motion picture was lousily written and directed by Alfonso Paso , deemed to be the most prolific writer of the Francoist period . He was a popular playwright who wrote more than 120 plays . At the beginning he was screenwriter for Juán Antonio Bardem in Felices Pascuas , Antonio Del Amo in Sierra maldita , Eugenio Martin in Despedida de soltero , and José Maria Forqué in De espaldas a la puerta and El Secreto de Monica . Alfonso writes a lot of plays , subsequently adapted on screen , such as : Vamos a contar mentiras , Hay alguien detrás de la puerta , Usted puede ser un asesino , Cena de matrimonios , Los derechos de la mujer and the successful Enseñar a un sinvergüenza . Later on , he debuts as an actor and filmmaker , directing titles as : Vamos a por la perejita , Los extremeños se tocan , Celos amor y mercado común , Ligue story , La otra residencia , among others . Rating : 3.5/10 . Below average .

Other much better version by far, about this know Shakespearean story ¨Romeo and Juliet¨ are the following ones : the vintage classic, Romeo and Juliet (36) by George Cukor with Norma Shearer and Leslie Howard ; Romeo and Juliet (1954) by Renato Castenalli with Susan Shentall and Laurence Harvey ; a dancing adaptation (1966) by Paul Czinner with Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn ; famous rendition (1968) by Franco Zeffirelli with Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey ; and modern version (1996) by Baz Luhrmann with Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes .
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