Revised Scene 67: Closing Scene

The revised and final version of Scene 67 (The Funeral/Closing Scene) follows closely the first part of the original shooting script for this scene (except for some cuts to the dialogue).  However, the end of the scene would have been very different.

Instead of ending with the Prince’s admonition, the mourners trooping through the cathedral doors, a voice-over by Laurence Olivier, followed by the end credits (as in the final cut of the movie in the video clip below), we would have had an empty square, except for the lone figure of young Balthazar.  The scene would have thus linked back to the Scene 1 (as originally scripted) with the words (as in the original Prologue) being spoken by this child.  The shot of the empty square would have had voice-overs from children laughing and talking, and then the voices of Romeo and Juliet speaking some of their lines. Finally, there would have been a voice-over from dead Mercutio, in which he tells us that dreams are “vain fantasy, which is as thin of substance as the air…”

The final version of Scene 67:

 

 

The original scripted version of Scene 67:Screen Shot 2018-11-08 at 12.27.41Screen Shot 2018-11-08 at 12.28.02Screen Shot 2018-11-08 at 12.28.25Screen Shot 2018-11-08 at 12.28.41