113. Zelfs Je Naam Is Mooi &...

Lyrics

Als jij je kleren aantrekt zonder haast

(When you unhurriedly put on your clothes)
En haast zonder erbij na te denken

(Seemingly without putting much thought in it)
Kijk ik naar een omgekeerde strip-tease

(I am watching a reversed striptease)
Van een volmaakte schoonheid

(Of a perfect beauty)
Elke handbeweging een gedicht

(Each hand movement, a poem)
Elke buiging als een roos die sluit

(Each bow, like a closing rose)
O schat van mij, o hemels hoge ster

(O my love, o heavenly star)
Zelfs jouw schaduw kan mij verblinden

(Even your shadow can blind me)

Dus ga niet weg

(So don't leave)
Ga nooit bij me weg

(Don't ever leave me)
Maar als je ooit verdwijnt

(But if you ever disappear)
Laat mij je dan weer vinden

(Let me find you again)

Zolang ik jou echt bij me heb

(As long as you are truly mine)
Heb ik de volmaakte liefde hier

(I am having the perfect love)
Drink ik uit een pure waterbron

(I am drinking of a pure water source)
En slaap onder een deken van geluk

(And I am sleeping under a blanket of happinness)
Jij bent het goudste zonlicht

(You are the most golden sunlight)
Een volmaakt helder kristal

(A perfectly bright crystal)
Zo schitterend dat het licht ervan

(So brilliant that its light)
Me soms dreigt te verblinden
(Sometimes threatens to blind me)

Maar ga niet weg

(But don't leave)
Ga nooit bij me weg

(Don't ever leave me)
En als je ooit verdwijnt

(And if you ever disappear)
Laat mij je dan weer vinden

(Let me find you again)

Zelfs je naam is mooi

(Even your name is beautiful)
Mooier dan die van iedereen

(More beautiful than the namy of any other)
Die dezelfde naam heeft

(Who has the same name)
Zelfs je naam is mooi

(Even your name is beautiful)
Mooier dan die van iedereen

(More beautiful than that of any other)

Dus ga niet weg

(So don't leave)
Ga nooit bij me weg

(Don't ever leave me)
Maar als je ooit verdwijnt

(But if you ever disappear)
Laat mij je dan weer vinden

(Let me find you again)

Julia

(Julia)

The first two verses of this song are genuinely odd. Who thinks much anyway when dressing up. Also weird: how this song ended up this high. It's not bad either textually, or musically, but there are thousands more like it. I also have never actually heard it outside of the context of the Top 2000, despite the fact that it's relatively recent (it was released in 1998). I am also yet to encounter anyone who has some sort of opinion on it. Besides that, singer Henk Westbroek is not some especially beloved cultural figure in the Netherlands. It is a song though that speaks of love with an old-fashioned exuberant earnestness, making use of very traditional metaphors. Besides it is about a Julia. So it's time for a classical retelling of a classical story.

The Movie: Romeo and Juliet (Franco Zeffirelli, 1968)

I haven't seen Baz Luhrmann Romeo + Juliet (1996) in quite a long time, but I believe I prefer it over this version of the story. Having said that, it's quite refreshing to see Zeffirelli's film. Many Shakespeare adaptations try to put the story in a modern context. They turn it into a musical, or a coming of age film, or they use it to comment on modern society. Furthermore, its actors are often too aware that they are doing Shakespeare and that this is really serious art. They can't really be blamed. These are some of the most retold stories in western history, and it's quite hard to approach them unconsciously.  Zeffirelli's film doesn't have that problem. It is made as if this is the first adaptation of Romeo and Juliet ever.

Perhaps even more importantly, it's made as if its completely unaware that it is 1968. One can imagine that if they had film equipment in Shakespeare's time, the 1611 Romeo and Juliet film would look similar to this. Zeffirelli emphasizes the show. Sure, people went to see Romeo and Juliet because they wanted to be moved by the story, Shakespeare was entertainment too. They also went to see a show, to see/hear the actors saying Shakespeare's words and simply to see the actors act. That's above all what makes this film so interesting. This movie doesn't want to offer an immersive experience, to make the audience forget that they are watching a movie. Rather, the theatricality of it all is overstated. The actors don't blend into their role, but constantly make you aware that they are performing. They all savor the chance to chew on Shakespeare's words, and to play with/enjoy the rhythmic structure of the sentences. They want to awe the audience. As such, their movements are overstated too. They hurl themselves in every fight, kiss or quarrel. The audience doesn't simply go to see actors act, but also to see them performing physical feats. Consequently everybody 'overacts', but that's the point 

John McEnery, playing Mercutio does this best. And it's his fight with Tybalt (Michael York) that exemplifies best the performative aspect of it all the best. They are rivals, but their fight starts friendly. They don't intend to hurt each other. They literally go through the motions, while sword fighting. They mime all the movements, without actually trying to hurt each other. It's a show they stage for the audience on the main square of Verona. The show doesn't even end when Tybalt accidentally stabs Mercutio. Mercutio is really hurt and about to die, but pretends to be healthy in order to stage a death scene for himself.. He pretends in other words as if he is hurt and about to die, and everyone around him cheers at his great acting. Only when he really dies, everyone realizes the true gravity of the situation, and consequently Romeo kills Tybalt, and, well shit hits the fan.

This approach suits me well. I am not an English native speaker, so I often find it quite hard to follow Shakespearean speech. I tend to miss many of the nuances, jokes, and insights of his dialogue. I watched Romeo and Juliet without Dutch subtitles, but they wouldn't have added much anyway. I do not think there is much of a point to read/see Romeo and Juliet, or (some) other Shakespeare plays in any other language than English. I know the content of the story, it's not the content that matters, it's the form, the way Shakespeare tells it. I have never seen a Shakespeare adaptation that gets this more than Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet.