Deny thy father and refuse thy name

The Verona project, part XI, O Casamento de Romeu e Julieta (Romeo and Juliet get married)

Who (how old), when, how long? Marco Ricca (42) and Luana Piovani (28), 2005, 1½hrs.

What sort of R&J? Older, yes, but kept immature by futebol fandom: his "family" supports Corinthians, hers Palmeiras; think Red Sox vs. Yankees raised to the level of Israelis vs. Palestinians.

Seriocomic scale for first scene? After a nice prologue of little Julieta's life in green, a perfect stadium scene to open, establishing the depth of the conflict and allowing sympathy for both houses, just as in the play. This suggests a fairly close hewing to the Shakespearean plot, which, unfortunately, does not materialize.

"Wherefore": do the filmmakers know what it means? Does not apply, although there is a nice exchange between the titular characters about how they got their names.

Carrion flies? NA.

Body count? One Palmeiras shirt, microwaved to shreds.

What (else) is missing? Pretty much everything but the basic love story across battle lines. Don't get me wrong: I'm such a sucker for Brazil and futebol that I liked the film a lot. But at the same time I couldn't avoid thinking how good it could have been had it followed either of two paths suggested early on. It could, for one, have carried through a serious feminist theme in which Julieta fights Brazilian paternalism to lead the Palmeiras women's team. (She does get that prize in the end, but without our seeing that she's done much to earn it.) Or it could have tracked R&J closely--not at the cost of humor, and certainly not to a tragic effect, but making much cleverer use of the obvious parallels available and steering clear of the farce and melodrama that are the weakest elements of the film as it stands.

What (else) is changed? Covered.

What (else) is odd? Also pretty much covered.

End-of-the-play exposition? The film ends with the wedding promised in the title, and the ceremony begins with one last fine Shakespearean touch, as the priest recites the first lines of the Prologue (with "fair São Paulo" instead of Verona, of course).