La Mégère apprivoisée

This is a great Shakespeare movie that the man himself would surely approve of. It has just the right mix of action and dialogue and if the light dims a little during the scenes without the Burtons, certainly Michael Hordern keeps his brightly lit. Michael York and Natasha Pyne are inexplicably weak after their brilliant early moments. But maybe it just is that the two main performances are so captivating, we really only wish to see them. Some find fault with the acting of Elizabeth Taylor but I'll hear none of it. Her early scenes of wild madness are fantastic as are her slightly less confident scenes as she finds herself the object of the chase. The scene I remember most from my original 60s cinema viewing is that of the pair wrestling on the bed of feathers having fallen through the roof. Watching this again at a BFI South Bank, London screening in a packed audience I can surely see why. Pure electricity as the snarling/alluring, struggling yet desiring 'shrew' begins to succumb to the power of the male above her. Great moments, great music, excellent sets and a tremendous if controversial final speech.

I saw the movie on DVD and liked it. I think if Shakespeare were alive today he would have like. Taylor and Burton do justice to their roles and the movie also introduced a brilliant actor Michael York as Lucentio. I had read the play and had seen the movie 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU which was loosely based on the play. When I got a chance to see the movie, I grabbed it. Elizabeth Taylor as Katharina the shrew is brilliant. She shows why is much more than a celebrity. Richard Burton shines as Petruchio. Franco Zeffirelli is a reputed director and he shows why. A must see movie for the fans of Shakespeare and the play.

Liz and Dick, you gotta love them in this...somehow you feel you may be getting more insight into their personal life than intended. One of the great things about this film is that it's made Shakespeare accessible to many more folks who might not have even bothered otherwise. Zefferili does for Shakespeare what Emeril does for cuisine--makes it entertaining while keeping all the quality. And what a fun production--great costumes, a young Michael York, lots of sexy repartee. A good choice for a snowy night when you'd rather stay in. It keeps you pretty entertained throughout, simplifies some of the plot intricacies. One drawback is that Miss Taylor appears to be a little long in the tooth to be playing a young, never-married, girl.

There is no denying Franco Zeffirelli's visual sensibility, nor his dramatic strength. He takes this Shakespearean comedy, chops and cuts and edits the text to his liking, and regurgitates a wonderful film. If one were to watch the film without sound, it would still be entertaining, that is how well Zeffirelli put it together. But it wouldn't be enough without a terrific Kate, and Elizabeth Taylor, certainly in her prime in 1967, more than fills the bill. She hams it up when hamming is appropriate to the moment, and plays it with more subtlety when that is required. She is well matched by Richard Burton as Petruchio. He is good, but there is something not quite there. I think perhaps he seems more jaded and a tad less calculating than I'd expect in the role. I think I prefer the more caustic performance of John Cleese in this role.

I can't help but wonder what Zeffirelli would've done with an operatic version of this play.

This is Burton and Taylor's best film together. It is full of color and fun, and some very fine comedy. All of the actors are brilliant in it. It's a big, romping chase of a movie, and when you hear Petruchio's deep chuckle, it makes you laugh, too.

It's based on the bare bones of Shakespeare's play about Baptista, a rich man with two unmarried daughters. The older daughter is so nasty that no one can stand her long enough to marry her, and everyone in town wants to marry the younger daughter but can't till the older is married off. A bad-mannered fortune hunter shows up and agrees to take the older daughter off the father's hands for a steep price. After the marriage, Petruchio sets about breaking the pride of Kate, and eventually he wears her down, but she works her own magic on him, and in the end they both find that they love each other.

Richard Burton should have won the Oscar for this role; he IS Petruchio. It's a national disgrace that he didn't get it. And Liz is really good as Kate. She makes us believe that she is a horrible shrew, and when her soft side emerges she makes us believe that she could have been sweet all along.

If you can find this film at all, try to watch it in it's letterbox version. You miss far too much of the action in the pan and scan format. It's shown on cable quite a bit, but mostly on the pay channels.