Tags
Amanda Seyfried, Chris Egan, Franco Nero, Gael García Bernal, letters to juliet, review, summit entertainment, Vanessa Redgrave
Synopsis:
When a young American (Amanda Seyfried) travels to the city of Verona, home of the star-crossed lover Juliet Capulet of Romeo and Juliet fame, she joins a group of volunteers who respond to letters to Juliet seeking advice about love. After answering one letter dated 1951, she inspires its author (Vanessa Redgrave) to travel to Italy in search of her long-lost love and sets off a chain of events that will bring a love into both their lives unlike anything they ever imagined. – Movie Insider
Director: Gary Winick
Production Companies: Summit Entertainment, Applehead Pictures
Main Characters:
Amanda Seyfried as Sophie Hall
Vanessa Redgrave as Claire Smith-Wyman
Chris Egan as Charlie Wyman
Franco Nero as Lorenzo Bartolini
Gael García Bernal as Victor
Genre: Romance, Drama
Release Dates: 25 April 2010 (Tribeca Film Festival, USA); 16 June 2010 (Philippines)
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Thoughts:
I watched this movie in DVD and that’s why my review came in after more than a year of its release date.
Basically, the reason I watched the film is that it’s available and because of Amanda Seyfried. She’s a pretty decent actress and I really do find her beautiful.
What intrigued me the most is seeing Verona, Italy (even if it’s just in the movie) and the idea of writing letters to Shakespeare’s fictional character, Juliet. It was something I’ve never heard of before and I wanted to know more about it. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the secretaries of Juliet are real and I think that it was really passionate and considerate of them to write back to those letter-senders. The film made me want to go to Verona and write to Juliet myself. 🙂
Contrary to what it may seem in the posters, I think that this movie is not Sophie’s (at least not completely) but Claire’s. Sophie is an important instrument to Claire’s happy ending but I really can say that between the two, Claire is the movie’s main heroine.
There is also something so heart-warming when I watch or read love stories that lasted for so many years. These are proofs that love encompasses all-young or old. I felt the strength of that feeling as I watch Claire on her journey to find her Lorenzo. As was pointed out in the movie, when it comes to love, it’s never too late.
Sophie and Charlie’s story was something I’ve seen before–still quite unbelievable at some points, cliche even, but it still made my heart skip with excitement. To be honest, even though I’ve predicted the ending to their story the moment they met, I still felt as if it’s the first time I’ve seen such a love story. 😛 I may have known what will happen with Victor but then, every break-up scene has a way of twisting one’s heart. I hope he finds his happy ending. 🙂
The best parts of this movie had something to do with the picturesque Italian background and the music that accompanied every scene. Sophie’s reply letter to Claire was also very touching and true which made it one of the most memorable things about the film. These made the film easy to watch despite some overused themes about love.
On a not-so-unrelated note:
As I’ve said, I like Amanda Seyfried and I know of Gael García Bernal. My Philo professor once made us watch the movie, “El Crimen del Padre Amaro” (The Crime of Father Amaro). I am still not used to seeing him in what I consider chick-flicks since I first admired him as an actor in that movie which is somehow controversial. Same with Amanda; the movie where I first saw her was “Chloe” and it has themes as scandalous (?) as El Crimen. I’m not complaining though. Just pointing out some things. Watch these two fairly serious films so you’d know just how good these two are as actors. 🙂