A serious blast from my past . . .
It was well over 40º yesterday evening and so Nog & I went out for our usual summer *emergency cold beer & air-conditioning session*, stopping off at Fnac on our way to Bodeguita Romero just to see if there was anything we particularly needed…
And dog my cats, I spotted a DVD of Zeffirelli’s 1968 classic Romeo & Juliet, which I don’t think I’ve seen in at least 20 years. And Nog had never seen it. And it was just 6 euros! So what the heck.
Anyhow, just finished watching it, with me in a flood of tears. And curiously, although Nog knew the basic storyline he was fuzzy on the details, so that twist at the end came as a bit of a surprise for him. And luckily he didn’t mind me practically reciting the whole film while we watched it.
But talk about bringing back memories. I remember going to see it at the cinema in Winnipeg when I was 11 or 12 and I stayed on to watch it three times in a row. Boy did I catch hell when I finally got home. Also saw it many times after that and bought the LP (gorgeous music by Nino Rota). And more than anything in the world (at that time) I wanted to be Olivia Hussey. And part of me still does, I think. Wow, we think we actually grow up but we can get so suddenly jolted back to long ago feelings.
What does this for you?
casa azahar 
I started wondering ‘where are they now?’ and found this photo taken in 2001.
Olivia & Leonard
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I very rarely watch films at the movie-palace. I tend to wait until they are on TV or, occasionally, DVD. My weakness is re-reading books. Like “The little Prince” or “Jonathon Livingstone Seagull”. At the moment I am really indulging myself – AA Milne’s “Now we are six”
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I don’t go to the cinema much anymore either, Archie, mostly because there is a limited selection of films shown here in original version (not dubbed into Spanish – gaaa!).
Do you get a bit wistful about your younger self while re-reading books you first read long ago?
I found myself wondering about that young girl who memorized an entire Shakespearean film back then …
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I remember the girls I was with when I read the book, I remember the break-ups, I remember so much because of a resonance within the book. So often we read what we need to read at the time. And the music – – –
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Now We Are Six!!
I have recently finished reading Winnie The Pooh & The House at Pooh Corner to my 11 yr old daughter. I still get a lump in my throat and a “small piece of bark in my eye” (Tigger fans will know) when I get to the end when Christopher Robin is telling Pooh that he won’t be seeing him so often now.
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There were no books in our house when I was a chld, so stuff like Winnie the Pooh I read later on in life. And so far I’ve only read The Little Prince in Spanish…
I do remember rereading The Fountainhead a few years ago and remembering what an impact it had made on me when I first read it at age 19. But sad to say there are no kids books I remember from my childhood.
I mostly remember music from back then as every weekend with my allowance I would buy a new 45 and play it to death. 🙂
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I watched that version in high school. Apparently they were supposed to cut out the bit in the bedroom following the balcony scene, as it was too racy for the likes of us.
But the teacher had a low bullshit tolerance, so we saw it unedited. I found it much less shocking that Fellini’s MacBeth, which I saw in full in grade ten under the auspices of a totally different teacher.
Why is it that English teachers seem to be left to be the guardians of common sense?
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I remember the pictures in books from my childhood, not so much the stories themselves. I used to gaze for ages at particularly beautiful pictures… the lovely part is that I’ve recently commissioned an artist whose work I remember from my childhood books. Its an absolute joy to be working with him! (Although I think I was in danger of gushing “I’m your biggest fan! I LOVED your work when I was little!!!”.
I also find that smells really take me back – the smell of wet stone can transport me back to my Grandmother’s kitchen (it had a stone floor which was mopped every morning) in a heartbeat.
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Back in 1970 i watched “Romeo and Juliet” over and over again at a theater in my hometown, Portugal. I was so in love with Leonard Whiting, that it was with great pleasure that i bought a DVD and watched it several times again. This is the movie i can say that really touched me over the years.
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ola me encanta esa pelicula y quiero conserguirla . es la mejor y la de leonardo di caprio no le llega a la suela del zapato . vaya pelicula mas bonita donde la puedo conseguir ?? me encanta . olivia eres una ggran actriz y leonard eres el mejor me encantas tienes nos pedazos de ojos y eres guapismo que pena que no naciera hace unos pocos de años si no no te me escapabas mi amor . besos y adios . el director se merece todos los reconocimientos del mundo
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