1923 February 12th
Florence, Italy
Director and Designer

[Otello] is one of the greatest operas ever composed, but it needs some trimming, even on stage.

What we are doing now, by introducing opera to larger layers of society throughout the world, through the cinematic medium, could be compared to the revolution of culture in the late fifteenth century when book printing was invented.

Opera, for Zeffirelli, is the complete form. His films of Shakespeare, similarly, unashamedly aim to appeal to all the senses. Shakespeare is, for Zeffirelli, a 'frustrated traveller' with a desire to take his audience on a sight-seeing tour of Italy; and his union of Shakespeare with Italian Renaissance culture earned him the nickname 'Shakespirelli'. - Deborah Cartmell

I believe Romeo and Juliet is the most exciting film of Shakespeare ever made. It is a deeply moving piece of entertainment. [True love's] words are outpourings of the soul, and that is the effect Zeffirelli achieves in two almost impossible scenes. - Roger Ebert

[on Hamlet] I wanted to go back to the original sources: jealousy and revenge.

[Metropolitan Opera, Falstaff 1992] All the humor of Boito’s libretto (taken from Shakespeare) is superbly brought to life by a cast of great singing actors in Franco Zeffirelli's classic production.

Associated Plays: