Fantastic!

Excellent but underrated film

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Wrong stars, wrong director. The comedy, if any, was missed by a mile and simply reduced to silliness. Taylor seemed to be having a little more fun than Burton, although he laughed a lot, in a fake and forced sort of way. Comedy was just not Burton's bag. He wasn't funny or even amusing. Nor was anyone else, and that goes for the production as a whole. Zeffirelli gives an impression of having concentrated more on the sets, costumes and extras. Perhaps it was the writing, by the adapter. But the direction was seriously serious. Everyone failed to capture what amusement there might have been. Kiss Me Kate, by Cole Porter, 1949, had better words and music. That was Porter's biggest hit, and a very ingenious take on the play. It is impossible to believe that both of these films rate 7.2 on IMDb, when Kiss Me Kate is so immeasurably superior. At times the lines seemed to be directly pinched from Cole Porter, eighteen years later, though perhaps they were originally penned by William.What were the good points ? I thought both Burton and Taylor fitted their parts physically, although some critics think they were too old. With Kate systematically rebuffing her suitors she might well have been heading for old maidenhood. With Petruchio so mercenary about the practical side of marriage, I think he might well have been fairly mature. So I don't think their ages were against them. But this was not an entertaining movie. The roles should be played as written, deadpan not dopey. I wonder what Princess Margaret thought of it at the Command Performance in 1967.

Franco Zeffirelli's 1967 feature The Taming of the Shrew acted as my introduction to Elizabeth Taylor. Elizabeth Taylor was an actress I had often heard about yet never seen in any films. In this film, Elizabeth Taylor acted with her husband at the time Richard Burton in one of their 11 films together. The two exuded brilliant on- screen chemistry, as you would hope any married couple would as they play a married couple on-screen. As I'm sure he did in real life, Richard Burton's Petruchio had his hands full with his shrew for a wife, Katharina. The fair, young Bianca (Natasha Pyne) cannot take a husband until her older sister Katharina does; as proclaimed by their father, Baptista (Michael Hordern) The problem is, Katharina is a shrew with no interest to marry and devote herself to a man. Hopelessly in love with Bianca, Lucentio (Michael York) poses as a tutor just to remain in close proximity to Bianca. Yet another man after the heart of Bianca, Hortensio (Victor Spinetti) devises a plan to sling Cupid's arrow at Katharina in order to lift Bianca's marriage ban. Hortensio finds the perfect suitor in Petruchio (Richard Burton) the money focused miscreant who recently arrived in town. Petruchio's desires are also fulfilled if he successfully marries Katharina, as he is searching for a wealthy wife. Once Petruchio is warned about Katharina's fiery temper and brash disposition and ensured that the debt he incurred winning her love will be paid for by Gremio (Alan Webb), yet another suitor of Bianca's, he willingly accepts the challenge of attempting to make her his wife. I was a little bit surprised at how much of a comedy this film came off as. I knew it was one of Shakespeare's lighter works but felt as though the comedy was overdone a bit throughout the film. Some of the scenes were reminiscent of even slapstick comedy, they were so overdone. Perhaps it was this overtly comedic tone that the costuming was so dramatic. Irene Sharaff, Danilo Donati enjoyed Academy accolades being nominated for Best Costume Design and certainly deserve the recognition given the intricacies of the period pieces used in the film. Praise being given, however, Richard Burton's arms often looked like piñatas on-screen in his overly elaborate costumes. The Taming of the Shrew was a fun film, with an exceptionally acted, albeit sexist, finale involving Elizabeth Taylor. Certainly the most glowing part of The Taming of the Shrew was the acting of Richard Burton. I was expecting to be blown away by Elizabeth Taylor only for her to be overshadowed by Richard Burton every scene they shared. It is quite apparent that Richard Burton was no stranger to Shakespearean roles before his turn in The Taming of the Shrew, as his acting was simply phenomenal. I would be outraged at his not being recognized by the Academy for his Petruchio, had 1968 not been one of the most stacked years for Best Lead Actor that I have ever seen. In addition to Burton's fine acting, the ensemble cast added immensely to the film as well, each having their turn in the spotlight. The lighting in this film also adds a great deal to the plot. First showing Katharina in dark lighting, later to show her in brighter lighting is an apt allusion to her losing her Shrew moniker and becoming a noble wife. The expectations of women in this film make me glad to have not lived in Shakespeare's time. Once a woman became a wife, full obedience to her husband was expected, and one was scolded if this obedience was not given freely. Each piece of this film, the acting, lighting, and costuming work in harmony to forward progress the thematic content of the film creating one of my favorite Shakespeare adaptations I've seen to date.

The Taming of the Shrew (1967)Directed by: Franco Zeffirelli Comedy | Drama | Romance Richard Burton (Petruchio) | Elizabeth Taylor (Katharina) | Michael York (Lucentio) | Natasha Pyne (Bianca) 122 minutesFranco Zeffirelli's first film is lavishly produced from the fine clothes his characters don to the silver tableware Petruchio handles on entering Katharina's abode to ask for her hand in marriage. Costumes Design and Art Direction attained Academy nominations, although the film did not receive any. The score written by Nino Rota is characteristic of the the Late Middle Ages when the motion picture is set. Scenes from the original text are gathered around Padua, Italy, and surrounding countryside, which are pleasantly reflected as this project was recorded in Dino De Laurentiis Cinematografica Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy.This is William Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew" according to the introduction credits, in comparison to Zeffirelli's "Romeo and Juliet". We are left wondering about the machine which is operating behind this movie as it has its star actors in Burton and Taylor and its fanciful title William Shakespeare's... but when reflecting on the original text you will be led to confusion; is this movie based on the induction or the latter part of the play? Shakespeare makes it perfectly clear which end we are receiving. If it is a mash in which Burton plays more to a Christopher Sly than a Petruchio, then it is not William Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew", it is Burton-Zeffirelli's...Ten minutes are spent in the initial taming. Petruchio takes off his sword, rolls up his sleeves and after some chasing, bantering, threats of physical violence, and swinging Katharina is silenced and hurt to a limp as she is dragged by her suitor to be paraded in front of her father and his guests. There is far more action in the motion picture than in the original text where the banter flows mentioning animals such as an ass, a turtle, a wasp, a crab, and domestic fowl, as well as flowers! (This film loves flowers.)Burton-Zeffirelli decided to cut the inductions found in the original Shakespeare text from the beginning of this feature film, although they included some reference to the induction. Early in the movie we receive the image of a religious drama on-stage playing to the drama within a drama concept. This is followed by a man in a wig and what seems to be a man dressed as a woman, the second man is carried off in a parade on a death bed, is this the boy dressed as the wife of Christopher Sly? And how does that relate to Petruchio who is presented as a drunk in this film. Maybe Burton only read the first few pages of the original text... Soon after we meet our hero, the drunk, Hortensio (Victor Spinetti) lays the plan of the marriage of Kate to Petruchio. After the conversation Petruchio is so drunk he is unable to undress for bed. The most striking reminder of the induction is the next morning where what is described in these lines occurs:Let one attend him with a silver basin Full of rosewater and bestrewed with flowers, Another bear the ewer, the third a diaper,Act I line 57-59 William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew)Burton plays a Petruchio who often chuckles to himself funnily and we are convinced by his taming of Katharina who is driven off to his country home for some more taming. Unfortunately this Shakespeare adaptation was undone by Elizabeth Taylor's Disney-style acting, she was unable to aspire to the standard presented by Burton, York, Pyne and most members of the acting unit involved in this Burton-Zeffirelli production.It is chilling how inapt Taylor's acting can be. She has two emotions throughout the entire movie. Her emotions which are expressed through her throwing things and not throwing things and her voice which is pure monotone and varies between angry and placid. Take the scene just as Petruchio arrives at Baptista's home for the first time. Taylor chases Pyne who screams in a multitude of ways while Taylor throws out her lines in her monophonic fashion.If she has only two emotions Taylor's face knows only two expressions of wide-eyed and squint-eyed. If it were called Burton-Zeffirelli's "The Squinting of the Shrew" it would delve a fitter example of the quality of acting presented to the amateur and Shakespearean audience alike. When Taylor first appears on screen peeking out from between the shutters of her father's house she exhibits this wide-eyed to squint- eyed and vice versa look. Every time she appears she maintains the on-screen presence of a spoiled 2D Disney princess. Over-acting might be the term to insert here or over-compensating for not being an actual Shakespearean actor. However Taylor did win two Oscars during her lifetime for Best Actress at the Academy Awards. Who are we to judge?

Film Review: The Taming of the Shrew (1967)My film review is on the 1967 version of The Taming of the Shrew directed by Franco Zeffirelli. It is a film based on the very popular novel by William Shakespeare. The story is set in the Italian city of Padua and is about a father who wants to wed off his older, vicious, wild daughter before anyone can marry his younger, sweeter and prettier daughter. It is quite a humorous film and I think Zeffirelli picked the cast very well and they suited their characters. Elizabeth Taylor who plays Katharina plays her character very well; at the start of the film she is a loud, scary, violent person who acts crazy. She fights with her sister and father constantly and refuses to get married, she has wild black hair and very colourful clothes and she is very strong, independent character. However at the end of the film she is completely different after being "tamed". She is quiet and respectful to her husband. She agrees to whatever he has to say and does what he tells her to do. Her hair is pulled back off her face and neat. Bianca, Katharina's sister is played by Natasha Pyne is a completely different character to Katharina. She is quiet and polite. Bianca is smaller, prettier and sweeter than Katharina. You can really tell the difference in the two of them in the film even by what they are wearing. Bianca wears pale, pretty dresses and has her hair always done nicely, whereas Katharina wears colourful crazy dresses and her hair is always messy until she met Petruchio. The costumes in The Taming of The Shrew are very colourful and old fashioned. They wear long, puffy, colourful dresses like what they wore in the 1600's. The men then wore massive woolly jackets and tight trousers. Both men and woman also wore big head pieces. Men wore hats and sometimes a few feathers on it and woman wore very expensive looking head pieces especially to occasions like weddings which we see a lot of in The Taming of The Shrew. The setting of the film is also old style; they live in massive old castles. In the scene when Petruchio chases Katharina we see a lot of the house and the barn or storage area, there was onions hanging all around it from the ceiling, big blocks of cheese and a massive area for storing sheep's wool which shows how well off Katharina's family were to have so much sheep wool which would have been very expensive back then. I think The Taming of The Shrew is quiet a humorous film. There are some funny parts throughout it like when Petruchio is at Katharina's house ringing the door bell and Katharina gets so frustrated that she pulls the doorbell off and breaks it and slams the door in Petruchio's face. This scene shows how angry Katharina is and how violent she is but is also witty. Another funny scene is at the very end when Petruchio sends his servant to command Katharina to come into him. As the servant is walking out the door he blesses himself because he thinks Katharina is going to attack him for telling her what to do and feels like he won't make it out alive. I think one of the main scenes in The Taming of The Shrew is when Petruchio and Katharine are heading back to Padua to Katharine's father and Petruchio tells her that the sun is the moon and she agrees with him he then says that it is the sun and she agrees with him again. She is completely controlled by Petruchio and is now "tamed". She would never disobey him like she would before they got married, she is completely different person. Another major scene in this film where it shows Katharine completely different is at the very end when each man calls in their wives to the ball room, none of their wives would come out to them apart from Katharine. Who was the last person everyone thought would come out. This also shows how much Petruchio controls her. I really liked this film. I thought it was really interesting and funny at parts. Franco Zeffierlli also directed the 1968 version of "Romeo and Juliet" and I much prefer his version of "The Taming of The Shrew". I think I might like it better because I feel there are so many different versions of "Romeo and Juliet" and I've studied it so many times whereas this was my first time studying "The Taming of the Shrew" so it was all new to me. I also loved the costumes and the characters in this film, especially Katharina.