The Film
In this riotous version of Shakespeare’s tragedy, Ernst Lubitsch playfully attempts to thwart the woeful fate of Romeo and Juliette by transposing the story of the Montagues and the Capulets to a village in Swabia.

The Director
Ernst Lubitsch : Firstly on the cabaret scene and afterwards in Max Reinhardt’s Company, he became popular as an actor with his comic role, Meyer, playing on film the shop assistant which he had been in real life in his father’s ladies’ clothing store. This opened the way to directing short comedy movies.

He went on to direct sophisticated dramas and historical reconstructions before leaving Germany for Hollywood in 1922 at the invitation of Mary Pickford. With the advent of talking movies he returned to social comedy, directing playful but ferocious satires of contemporary society

The Composer
During the last 25 years, Antonio Coppola has written numerous scores for silent movies. Today, he is considered to be one of the most knowledgeable and experienced musicians in this very specialised field.

Born in Rome in 1956, he studied piano, composition and conducting at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory. In 1973, he started work as a pianist for theatrical productions and contemporary dance.

When in 1975 he accompanied a silent movie on the piano for the first time, he immediately decided to cease his other musical activities and devote himself to this. Since 1975, he has been invited to play at hundreds of silent movie projections in cinemas throughout Italy, France, Germany, the USA, Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Greece and England.

He has given courses on the musical accompaniment of silent movies in numerous universities in Europe and throughout the world.