'Romeo and Juliet: Beyond Words'

It’s great that we live in an age where ballet can be filmed and live streamed. When I was growing up, I loved watching ballet videos and it was a big part of what got me into ballet. The majority of ballet videos, however, are filmed performances. So normally it will open with a shot of the auditorium, the audience getting seated and opening credits will roll across whilst the orchestra starts playing the overture. There aren’t many ballet films that place the ballet in a real life setting, away from a stage and auditorium, to make the action more realistic and alive. I can’t really think of any actually. I remember watching a version of Giselle over and over again at my grandma’s house and it featured Monica Mason as Myrtha. It was filmed in a studio, so although not live on stage, it still looked set-up and not authentic. After many years of successful releases of ballet DVDs, the live cinema broadcasts took centre stage, and this has been a great way to get new audiences into ballet. We were hungry for even more though, and so enter Michael Nunn and William Trevitt, in other words, the BalletBoyz. They have gone a step further and created ‘Romeo and Juliet: Beyond Words’ - a film adaptation of Kenneth MacMillan’s tragic ballet based on Shakespeare's famous play and starring The Royal Ballet. I saw the film at the Curzon cinema in Mayfair but it was later shown on New Year’s Day, so after a second viewing I decided to write down my thoughts. I also forced my boyfriend to watch it with me to try and get some feedback from someone who doesn’t see ballet that much. More on that later. It’s going to seem like I’m nit-picking at absolutely everything as I go into this, and maybe I am, but that’s only because I want BalletBoyz to keep making films like this. And just so we’re not in any way foggy about my views I should say that I think ‘Romeo and Juliet: Beyond Words’ is a wonderful first attempt at filming ballet in this way.

William Bracewell as 'Romeo' and Francesca Hayward as 'Juliet'

I think the first thing to mention is just how aesthetically beautiful the film is. The location is stunning, and really gives the sense of a town square in Verona (even though it was filmed in Hungary) during a long hot summer. The dancers wear minimal make up and slight modifications to the costumes have been made; for example, Juliet doesn’t wear tights, making it all seem a lot more realistic. The casting is also near perfect, with all of the lead characters danced by the younger generation. Even Tybalt and the Nurse are young, which I think goes a long way in making the setting seem realistic. There are also some surprises in the cast, such as Laura Morera who excellently makes a cameo as the Lead Harlot. I was glad she was given a part in the film, especially seeing as it was a crime she never danced Juliet during her career. They also cast James Hay as Benvolio, who is such a brilliant actor and whose eyes explain every emotion and thought throughout the film. I’d love to see him as Romeo one day - surely it’s just a matter of time. Marcelino Sambe is Mercutio, and what else can you say other than wow. His turns seem to create blurred vision and his understanding of the character goes a long way in depicting his doomed fate. Francesca Hayward takes the lead as Juliet, whilst William Bracewell dances Romeo. They are both beautiful and whimsically convey the love and tragedy of these two iconic protagonists. I can’t wait to see Bracewell’s Romeo on stage. He is such an elegant dancer and has all of the makings of a wonderful Romeo. He’s incredibly passionate, and although not a big virtuoso dancer, he brings a depth of character to a role that many dancers spend a lifetime trying to achieve. He is perfectly matched by Hayward, as they both dance like young lovers into the night. They are romantic together and have a rich chemistry. It may not have had the best reviews, but joining the cast of Cats has done wonders for Francesca Hayward. I think she has been a different dancer since she has returned to The Royal Ballet. Her characterisation and acting has come on leaps and bounds, maybe it was spending time surrounded by great actors like Dame Judi Dench and Sir Ian McKellen on set that helped, or maybe she is just developing and soaking up more and more life experiences. Whatever the ingredient, it’s doing wonders for her calibre of performance. Her Juliet last year was unbelievable alongside Cesar Corrales, who danced a magnificent Romeo, and she is no different in the film. A special mention needs to be made for Matthew Ball’s Tybalt. What I feel with his depiction, that maybe you only really get when Tybalt is played by a younger dancer, is that he’s left out of the boys’ club. When Romeo, Mercutio and Benvolio are doing their mask dance in the square, Tybalt is greeting guests into the Capulet party. I felt like he should be dancing with the boys, having fun, but there’s a greater responsibility on him (unlike Romeo who maybe has more lenient parents) and so Tybalt must fulfil his duty as Lord Capulet’s second in command. There’s a vulnerability to Ball’s Tybalt and a burning jealousy that he can’t just be carefree and happy like Mercutio and Romeo. I feel like this really builds in the film and also when he performed it on stage, and is much more authentic to Shakespeare’s version. I don’t ever believe that Tybalt is completely evil with no explanation as to why he’s such an awful person. Ball is the only dancer I’ve seen perform the role and play him as more of a petulant spoilt teenager, who resents his more liberal and joyous counterparts from the Montague clan. Kristen McNally also gives a career defining performance during Tybalt’s death scene, every punch to her body was felt and her complete dismissal and abandonment of motherly feeling is excellently conveyed in the later part of the film. I have to say that I didn’t think Christopher Saunders instilled the same fear as others have done when portraying Lord Capulet. Gary Avis, most notably, really makes the abusive and imposing authority felt on stage when he plays the role. You really need to feel this, otherwise you can’t really understand why Juliet is driven to take the poison. Unfortunately with Saunders I felt a bit more like Juliet could have said ‘shut up dad’ and ignored him and all would have been ok. The rest of the cast are, as always, a complete delight to watch and their years of dancing MacMillan ballets pays off as they take it all to another level in the film.

Matthew Ball as 'Tybalt'

So to the actual content of the film. I think this is a ballet film made for ballet lovers. I think in parts it’s unclear what’s going on and if you didn’t know the ballet or the story you might be a bit foggy over some of the details. But everyone knows the story right? Well not everyone knows the ballet, and some of the subtle touches created by MacMillan are missed out. For those of us who live and breathe ballet and have seen Romeo and Juliet countless times, we might start edging around on our seats when certain bits are cut or missed out. This is why I wanted my boyfriend to watch it. A ballet enthusiast he isn’t, but I’ve dragged him to pretty much everything and so he has an understanding of what it’s all about. He loved Romeo and Juliet so I thought he’d be a good guinea pig to watch the film through a layman’s eyes. His opinions were unexpected. He didn’t get hung up on any details that I mentioned, instead his main gripe was that it wasn’t real enough. He argued that the medium of film allows a lot more creativity, they could have played around more with camera angles and not have as much front facing shots (I strongly disagree as I think there was the perfect balance, and ultimately it’s ballet, we need to see feet and dance!). He also wanted the dancers to interact with the props more as he felt it still seemed a bit performance like and not realistic. Again, I thought there was a great balance with the dancers picking up props and interacting with them, but each to their own. My biggest frustrations about the film are actually about the continuous obstructions of the dancing which I felt was a bit odd considering it’s a ballet film at the end of the day. I think the directors successfully balance ballet with a realistic and authentic setting; something which I appreciate is super difficult to get right, because at the end of the day, Juliet’s running around with pointe shoes on and that isn’t something we see every day when shopping at Asda. So you’ve got to take the authenticity segment with a pinch of salt. Quite a lot happens in the background, sometimes blurred, with the corps walking in front of the dancing. I’m guessing this is to make it seem like a realistic scene, which didn’t bother me too much, but when it’s distracting the audience from the dancing, in particular the mask dance with the three boys, I thought it was a shame. Similarly when Juliet is about to take the potion, the whole scene is filmed behind a curtain, which gives the impression we happen to have just caught a glimpse rather than being fully there with her. I don’t like curtain twitchers and didn’t want to be one. I would have preferred if the camera had really focused on this pivotal moment, rather than playing around with the best way to keep it art house. I feel the same way about the crypt scene. This is the climactic ending, the tragic denouement, that the rest of the story has led up to. In the theatre, the crypt is overpoweringly frightening and you really feel the sense of dread. Again I know the film is trying to make it more realistic, but the crypt was quite brightly lit with candles and also very small so that scary impact was lost. Again we had the creeping camera, which focused more on moving around than on the actual drama and because the crypt was behind iron gates, these often got in the way of the dancers’ expressions. The scene was also a bit rushed, so when Romeo kills Paris it all happens very quickly and to those who may not know the story they may have wondered what was happening. Funnily enough, it seems that most people were frustrated about an obstructing view during the balcony scene which I didn’t mind as much! There have been complaints about bushes and hedges getting in the way of the view but I felt completely lost in the scene so didn’t mind as much.

The beautiful location in Hungary

My other frustration was in the detailing of the narrative, or lack thereof. This is most noticeable in the opening part of the film. I didn’t feel that the tension between the Capulets and the Montagues was really set up properly. The film has been cut so you don’t really get the same build up as you do in the theatre. If you didn’t know the story you’d be a bit baffled. There isn’t long enough to set up that burning tension and it’s all a bit rushed; for example, it isn’t clear when the two sets of parents come in (which I would argue is quite a pivotal moment as they are the ones leading the feud), and when Escalus appears it’s all too hasty. The problem with this is that later on it isn’t clear that Romeo has to run away after killing Tybalt. I don’t think there’s enough in the opening to make you feel like these are two warring families and that’s a bit of a shame because this is the most important part of the narrative. The main question of the play is whether it’s better for them to have met and felt that passion just for a couple of days knowing it could only end badly, or whether it’s better to have lived your life never knowing a love like that. Because the feud isn’t set up properly, these important themes get a bit lost. But the aim was to cut it all down, which I get and appreciated, but in my view that’s not a scene to cut down.

Francesca Hayward as 'Juliet'

My two frustrations are minor in comparison to how much I loved the film. Certain details make it a special watch. For example, I loved the soft breeze blowing throughout the balcony scene – it’s so romantic and just makes me think of long summer evenings abroad in Italy surrounded by beautiful ambience and architecture. The fight scene in the rain was also incredibly powerful and atmospheric and I also loved the way they shot the pivotal scene where Juliet sits on the bed, nervously thinking about what her next steps are. I think this scene will become iconic thanks to Hayward’s expressive face, and it helps that despite the tears she remains incredibly beautiful. The final part of the film is also powerful, with Juliet unable to reach Romeo’s hand as she dies in the crypt. It’s the perfect final icing of tragedy on top of a pretty depressing cake.

William Bracewell as 'Romeo', Kristen McNally as 'Lady Capulet' and artists of The Royal Ballet

The film is a great achievement and really brings ballet into a new age which I hope will appeal to non-ballet audiences. I’m torn about whether I think it suits a non-ballet audience actually. On the one hand, I’m not sure I’d recommend it as it doesn’t really show off the technical prowess of the art form, but then on the other hand, that wasn’t really Macmillan’s intention when choreographing this ballet. The film succeeds in showing a current and relatable type of ballet that perhaps will bring in new audiences. I’ve heard that Balletboyz want to do another ballet film and I think that would be amazing. I would suggest Giselle – just imagine how spooky Act 2 could be in a real cemetery - you heard it here first! Whatever they do next, I’ll be watching, and frankly I can’t wait. Get the popcorn ready…