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Good riddance....

That's a vile reaction to anyone's death.

I guess you had to wait a long time to say that

Lost Highway wrote: Sat Jun 15, 2019 1:15 pm Good riddance....

While I can understand your anger considering that Bruce Robinson and countless others have discussed their close encounters with Franco (Withnail and I is indebted to Franco for sadly who he was on production). But, his R&J adaptation is the best Shakespeare adaptation and is not a mess like Luhrmann’s attempt.
Losing Zeffirelli is upsetting due to the talent he had at adapting some of the most celebrated plays into equally celebrated films. It is hard to distinguish art and person but we can’t deny his genius.

And as a parting gift never speak ill of the dead. Unless you are Bette Davis who hilariously said, “My Mother said never speak ill of the dead. Joan Crawford is dead. Good”.

Blutarsky wrote: Sun Jun 16, 2019 5:17 am ... his R&J adaptation is the best Shakespeare adaptation...

Quite. His Shrew isn't bad either. R.I.P.

I'm out of the loop here. What has he done to warrant such a strong reaction? I read the Guardian obituary earlier and the only possible egregious thing mentioned was his political career with Berlusconi's party in his later years but it didn't go into detail on that.

Allegations of sexual abuse have followed Zeffirelli around all his career, from Bruce Robinson to Jonathon Schaech. Unless you know what it does to you to be abused by older men with power over you, don’t lecture me about how to talk about dead abusers.

He didn’t shower himself in glory over his campaign against Scorsese‘s Last Temptation of Christ either, claiming “cultural Jewish scum” was behind the film. Yes, he later denied it, wouldn’t he just after that one blew up in his face. He was one of Berlusconi’s cronies and given to offensive right wing statements for much his life.

I’ll just about give you his Romeo and Juliet but it’s ludicrous to claim that it is the greatest ever Shakespeare adaptation. Polanski, Kurosawa, and Welles may want a word. The Baz Luhrman film isn’t a mess, it's far more inventive as a movie as are Julie Taymor’s Titus and Jarman’s The Tempest. Most of Zeffirelli’s contribution to cinema was chintzy trash.

I’ll leave it here...

Chintzy trash. Word. \:D/

Lost Highway wrote: Sun Jun 16, 2019 6:58 am Allegations of sexual abuse have followed Zeffirelli around all his career, from Bruce Robinson to Jonathon Schaech. Unless you know what it does to you to be abused by older men with power over you, don’t lecture me about how to talk about dead abusers.

As with the late Jimmy Savile, the sheer volume of accusations against Zeffirelli, from multiple people in multiple countries and over a very long period of time, makes it somewhat unlikely that he was a squeaky-clean innocent. His predilection for pretty young boys was well known, and by definition these would have been abusive relationships based on the power imbalance alone.

At least Robinson had the talent to turn his abuse into art (and I'd take the masterly Withnail & I over any of Zeffirelli's confections), but most of Zeffirelli's victims wouldn't have been that lucky.

I do think that the 1990 version of Hamlet with Mel Gibson rather wrong-headedly over emphasised the Oedipial stuff with Hamlet invading his mother's bedchambers and being upset at his new stepdad for perhaps more than revenge motives (I find the idea that Hamlet might be homosexual slightly more fruitful, since that makes sense both of his ever blunter rejections of Ophelia being thrust upon him through no fault of her own and also the introduction of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as 'old friends' to distract Hamlet with a bit of libidinous fun!) But since the Branagh version was also rather Oedipally fixated as well, it might just be how certain directors approach that play.

I quite like the period appropriate version of Romeo & Juliet (mostly for introducing actual teenage actors into the roles and Olivia Hussey onto the screen, which of course now might be a bit iffy in the light of the comments above) and The Taming of the Shrew is perhaps the best version of that deeply flawed play, if only because of the way it folds in the Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton relationship and feels like it is a continuation of the tempestuous fighting of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolfe? just before!

And 1981's much Razzie nominated Endless Love is incredibly bizarre in the way it depicts teenage obsessive love (and parental control) to an almost uncomfortable extreme where nobody comes out unsullied, though it is far better than the much limper recent 2014 remake (which softens everything into the current young adult trend and rather mitigates the main character's actions too much). I wonder if in some ways it was meant to be a modern day companion piece to Romeo & Juliet? Though if that is the case, it emphasises the importance of Shakespearian text to making your teen romance film seem deep! It also features a fantastic, soon to be characteristic, really intense early performance by James Spader in a role of the brother who seems a little too jealous of his sister's boyfriend, to the extent that it undermines a lot of the otherwise good points he is making about their unhealthy relationship! Here's the Cinema Snob episode on that film (NSFW) which gives a good sense of it, as well as pointing out Tom Cruise's first film role, shirtless wearing only a pair of cut off at the crotch jeans!

I'd forgotten he did Endless Love. That was definitely both intense and silly!

No love whatsoever for Jesus of Nazareth? I grew up watching that every Easter, starting when it first aired, when I was a kid, and it was always an impactful experience.

I love Endless Love and actually consider it quite transcendent regardless of whether or not it is also "chintzy trash" (of course I also say that as a fierce Zalman King advocate as well). Zeffirelli 's opera adaptations, however, are anything but trash.

I'll put in a word for his film of LA TRAVIATA, one of the better filmed adaptations of an opera in my experience.

I'm quite fond of the 1981 Endless Love, especially for Spader's performance, and would definitely favour it over the recent remake. But really only in the way that given the choice I would always pick The Last Vampire on Earth over Twilight for pure entertainment value!

As a frequently love-obsessed teen, I remember identifying (to some extent!) with that movie, and thrilled that that was being portrayed. Watching that hilarious Cinema Snob episode, though, really brings out the creepy aspects, like the mom watching.

If you're in the mood to hate read something stupid by Armond White: Franco Zeffirelli: Unlikely Conservative Hero

Rayon Vert wrote: Sun Jun 16, 2019 2:35 pm I'd forgotten he did Endless Love. That was definitely both intense and silly!

No love whatsoever for Jesus of Nazareth? I grew up watching that every Easter, starting when it first aired, when I was a kid, and it was always an impactful experience.

in Chile Jesus of Nazareth is broadcasted successfully on TVN (Chilean National Television) every year since 1982 to date -37 years!!- and has become a classic of the Passion Week for the Chileans
In addition to the audience's success, now Franco Zeffirelli's work received a lot of comments on social networks, turning production into the most tweaked TV content on Holy Saturday 2019 under the hashtag #JesusDeNazarethEnTVN.