Scottish Ballet’s Romeo and Juliet film lands UK-Ireland cinema release
Tull Stories will release These Violent Delights in cinemas from October 21 after its Edinburgh world premiere.
By Georgia Hale · Staff Writer
2 min read
Scottish Ballet is taking its wordless Romeo and Juliet-inspired feature to the big screen, with Tull Stories set to release These Violent Delights in UK and Irish cinemas from October 21, Deadline reports.
The cinema rollout follows the film’s world premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. Deadline reports the film will screen there on August 14.
These Violent Delights brings together Scottish Ballet and production company Forest of Black with indie distributor Tull Stories. The project is described by Deadline as Scottish Ballet’s first major feature-length film.
The film is based on William Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, but this version comes without spoken dialogue. According to the official synopsis cited by Deadline, Juliet wakes from a fever dream as memory and hallucination blur, sending the story into “a kaleidoscopic journey of belonging, defiance and self-discovery” where fate is remade through dance.
Who is behind the film
Oscar Sansom, whose credits include Biffy Clyro: A Celebration of Endings, co-directed the feature with Christopher Hampson, Scottish Ballet’s director and CEO/artistic director, according to Deadline.
Kayla-Maree Tarantolo and Ishan Mahabir-Stokes star alongside Scottish Ballet artists. The choreography was directed by Julia Cheng, Morgann Runacre-Temple, Myles Thatcher, Sophie Laplane, Nicholas Shoesmith and Andrea Azzari.
Beth Allan and Tony Currie produced the film. Deadline reports that These Violent Delights was filmed across multiple Scottish locations.
Juliet takes the lead
Hampson told Deadline that the film tells Romeo and Juliet from Juliet’s perspective, shaped by “their remembering and misremembering in real time.”
He said the story may cover only “two or three minutes” of Juliet being awake, while the film spends much more time inside her unconscious mind.
Hampson also pointed to Scottish Ballet’s recent history with screen work. He told Deadline the company has built a reputation in dance film over the past decade through award-winning shorts and digital innovation, but said this feature is “on a whole other level.”
He added that he was thrilled the film would reach cinemas across the UK, bringing it to both new viewers and existing audiences.
A trailer for These Violent Delights has been released through Scottish Ballet’s YouTube channel, giving audiences a first look at the company’s contemporary, cinematic spin on one of Shakespeare’s best-known tragedies.
This story draws on original reporting from Deadline.