Letters to Juliet is a blockbuster film that hit theaters May 14, 2010 (USA). In this film a young journalist by the name of Sophie goes on a grand adventure across Italy with Claire and Claire’s grandson Charlie in search of Claire’s Lorenzo – a man she left when she was young and afraid of risking everything for love. This film, however, is a loose adaptation (otherwise known as an analogue) of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. SPOILER ALERT: Claire and Lorenzo are star-crossed lovers whose parents kept them apart in their adolescence, but Sophie and Charlie are star-crossed as well in their own way. While Claire and Lorenzo may represent the more traditional story of Romeo and Juliet in that they lose their love and each other (though unlike Shakespeare’s lovers, Claire and Lorenzo do not commit suicide, but rather continue living their lives until they find each other many years later), Sophie and Charlie are the anti-Romeo and Juliet in that they beat the odds and all the complications keeping them apart; they find each other, and circumstance allows them to both fall in love and be together.
This is a beautiful story and definitely worth watching! Films such as this one merge the old with the new, the traditional with the innovative and bring Shakespeare to a wider audience in the 21st century. Anyone who appreciates Shakespeare’s plays/film adaptations will be shedding tears and sitting on the edge of their seat until the credits begin to roll.
Below is a video of the official film trailer for Letters to Juliet:
William Shakespeare in Media 