Letters To Juliet – Massive Preview Of Clips, Interview Footage, Info, And More

There isn't much that piques my interest in a cursory glance at Letters to Juliet. I do have to admit that I rather like Amanda Seyfried, especially since following up Mamma Mia! with Jennifer's Body, and Big Love doesn't hurt her in my eyes either. Then again, we're closer in temporal location to Dear John, and with another (apparently) treacly love story.

Here's the quick rundown -

Letters To Juliet is an enchanting love story-- a tale of encountering new sparks and rekindling old flames. When Sophie (Amanda Seyfried), a young American, travels to Verona, Italy -- the romantic city where Romeo first met Juliet -- she meets a group of volunteers who respond to letters written to Juliet seeking romantic advice. Sophie finds and answers a letter that has been lost for 50 years, and is stunned when its author Claire (Vanessa Redgrave) arrives in Italy with her handsome but overprotective grandson (Christopher Egan) to find the fiance she left decades before. Fascinated by Claire's quest, Sophie joins them on an adventure through the beautiful hills of Tuscany searching for Claire's long lost Lorenzo. The journey will change their lives forever, as they discover it's never too late to find true love.

Clearly, that's a synopsis that lets everyone know where they are. Possible potential, sure, but it's a story that lays its cards on the table, and if you aren't particularly interested in the next younger-ish-adult romance film, you probably don't see any surprises coming.

It may sound odd, but what makes me rather more interested than I would generally expect is that Gary Winick is directing. Now, you're thinking, "Oh sure, Bride Wars," and I'm with you there actually, but even with 13 Going on 30 thrown in, I've never lost hope for Winick. Somewhere floating about in that skin is the guy who directed Sam the Man, and wrote and directed the simply brilliant Tadpole.

So, I'm willing to give it a shot, and I don't know about you, but "aging stud rides into view on his horse" is a pretty cool scene.

In order to make an informed decision, find below an assortment of clips, interviews, and behind-the-scenes video (use the playlist feature to choose clips), followed by some more info on the film.

Letters to Juliet hits May 14th.

In point of fact whether Romeo and Juliet is real and from Verona, Italy has become irrelevant since Verona is known as the location on which Shakespeare based his play. Half a million tourists descend upon the northern Italian city (90 minutes west of Venice) specifically to visit the courtyard where notes of love lost and won are affixed to the stone wall; to stand on Juliet’s balcony and pose next to the bronze statue of Juliet (with her right breast polished to a sheen from the tradition of touching it for good luck). Production began on June 25, 2009 in Verona, which (next to Rome, Florence and Venice) is the most visited city in Italy.

“What makes it so wonderful about this tradition (of the courtyard) and love in general, is that everyone wants to believe in it,” says director Gary Winick. Since the 1930s “Juliet” has received thousands of letters from all over the world; sometimes the missives are sometimes simply addressed as “Juliet, Verona,” but all of them reach their destination (the Club di Giulietta), which is staffed by volunteers. And all the letters are answered; sometimes with the help of outside translators.

The idea for the movie got momentum when producers Caroline Kaplan and Ellen Barkin were intrigued by an album of Elvis Costello’s, “The Juliet Letters” which followed the pair becoming aware of the Verona Courtyard phenomenon. Soon after, they discovered the book “Letters to Juliet: Celebrating Shakespeare’s Greatest Heroine, the Magical City of Verona and The Power of Love” by sisters Lise and Ceil Friedman.

“We knew there was something beautiful and romantic there, something pure hearted and resonant. Summit agreed and we immediately attached Gary as the director and brought on Jose, who came up with this beautiful story set against the backdrop of Verona and the Casa de Guilietta. “ OR “We knew there was something beautiful and romantic there, something pure hearted and resonant. Summit agreed and we immediately attached Gary and it all came together rather quickly,” says Kaplan.

“For me, what I find is the most interesting and complicated and universal is material that deals with people’s relationships and their emotions,” says Winick.

“For some people it’s as if they live their lives on a checkerboard and you’re on a square and only move to the next square because of circumstances. But imagine if you would change your life just based on courage, and simply make the leap without being pushed,” adds Winick.

“Gary’s sensibilities are a bulls eye for this movie which, is in the best sense of the term, a date movie,” says producer Mark Canton. “It deals with an intrinsic human trait: it’s hard to run from what the heart tells you and sometimes it’s hard to run toward what the heart tells you.”

The movie is notable if for no other reason as to demonstrate that movies are the world’s language: the five stars of the movie are from five different countries; Seyfried (United States), Redgrave (U.K.), Egan (Australia), Bernal (Mexico) and Nero (Italy).

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About Marc Eastman

Marc Eastman is the owner and operator of Are You Screening? and has been writing film reviews for over a decade, and several branches of the internet's film review world have seen his name. His reviews have brought him personal praise from the director of a major motion picture, and have been used as required reading in a course at a major University. These priceless rewards, along with just bags of cash, keep him from straying from freelance writing. He is also a member of The Broadcast Film Critics Association and The Broadcast Television Journalists Association.

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