accompanying the
feature doc DEAR JULIET
At last a documentary about love - and the greatest love story of all time. A story which bridges every age, culture and generation, those with love found or love lost, a story which is re-read, re-written and re-lived time and time again in the hearts and minds of lovers across the world, every day. That story, of course, is Romeo and Juliet.
In the closing lines of Shakespeare's most famous work the Bard wrote;
"go hence, to have more talk of these sad things.. for never was a story of more woe, Than this of Juliet and her Romeo".
His words, recited
in The Globe Theatre in the 1600s, have held more truth than even
William Shakespeare might have predicted. In a new globally-connected
millenium, the story has taken on a new meaning than simply as entertainment
or wise words of warning. "In fair Verona, where we lay our scene" the entire city has become a symbolic shrine- and financially lucrative tourist attraction for visitors from around the globe flocking to pay homage to these legendary lovers. And either "the stars" or "The Verona tourist council" have since found a new life for the tragic Romeo and Juliet; the two star crossed lovers live on today providing counsel to the love-sick and the lonely, the heart-broken and the un-happily married the world over under the guise of an extraordinary organisation of 'agony aunts' aptly titled "The Juliet Club".
'From Juliet with Love' is the first Australian documentary to profile The
Juliet Club of Verona and its volunteers, the letters written to "Dear Juliet",
and the sage words of wisdom written back. It might just be enough to make
even the heart-broken believe in love again.
THE JULIET CLUB AND ITS VOLUNTEERS
The Juliet Club is a voluntary organisation with a team of eight secretaries who handle all the mail received by the mythic Juliet. Over 5000 letters are sent every year from all around the globe, asking for advice from fair Juliet. Many are simply addressed to Juliet, Verona, Italy. These unknown Juliet secretaries' then reply on behalf of their boss, answering each and every letter with counsel in Italian, English, Japanese, Spanish and German and other languages with the help of other translators. The club has now received letters and email in more than 20 languages.
The first letter addressed to 'Juliet, Verona' arrived in 1937, sparked by the first Hollywood film about her. The then curator of Juliet's tomb replied to it. But letters kept on coming and in 1990 the Juliet Club organised by the city of Verona took over answering the mail of its most famous daughter. The city pays the postage and the volunteers work for free.
Every Valentine's Day the club reads out and awards the 'Cara Giulietta' prize to the best love letter received that year.
Every day Walter the postman screams up on his motorbike to deliver another
clutch of Juliet's letters to the Club headquarters, based in a converted
garage. He doesn't mind lugging the bags of letters back and forth from
the Juliet club. "For me", he says, "Its kind of like delivering mail to Santa Claus".
When the club started they asked a Turkish NATO commander and staff from local Chinese restaurants to help with translations. A washing-machine salesman helped with the Chinese and Japanese letters. He and Giulio Tamassia, the club's president, have been the only men working in the 'Club di Giulietta'- apart from the office cat, a tom called, of course, Romeo. And he's been neutered.
"This is not work for me", says Tamassia. "This is a passion". One volunteer at Club Juliet calls Tamassia "the last great romantic of Veronaí.
His daughter, Giovanna Tamassia, has been Juliet's club secretary full time since 1993. 'Its not important if Juliet is real or not. What is important is that people believe in the power of the story. The need to believe in love is perhaps the strongest thing in the universe'.
Giulio Tamassia and his team see their chores as a civic duty. 'This is a myth. Its bigger than truth', he says.
THEME ; (continued on page 2)
STYLE; IMAGERY and MUSIC
Romantic, whimsical, sensitive, passionate; the style of the letters will be reflected in the style of the documentary.
The camera lingers longingly on a young couple's passionate embrace an elderly husband and wife etch their names for eternity on the wall of Juliet House, along with the graffiti of countless other lovers. Young couples swap chewing gum then stick it on the walls, as a testimony of their love. Some tourists sit in silence, while other tourists cavort on Juliet's balcony.
Images of modern day Verona set the documentary scene. The townsfolk go about their daily business almost obvlious to the rich artistic heritage and beauty of their surrounds. This is juxtaposed against the wonder and awe of the tourists photographing every vista, every statue, trying to capture their own slice of sensuous Italian passion.
Dreamy words of poetry and love-letters poured from the pen of writers seeking advice from 'Dear Juliet', are intertwined with a montage of the fantasy of Carnivale. Masked figures seem to float across canals in the mysterious mist of early morning Venice. Back in a humble house in Verona, the unknown volunteers of The Juliet Club are unmasked as they pen their replies, signing their names simply 'love, Juliet'.
Letters to Juliet is filmed with colour and passion, and sweetened with songs of love.
written, directed, filmed, produced, edited and distributed by Wendy Dent;
FROM VERONA WITH LOVE
- a documentary to make even the broken hearted believe in love again
