Sexylocher Masterful Movie

Huievest Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

Grimossfer Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

Sienna-Rose Mclaughlin The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Thilwen I happened to order online a DVD version of The Taming of the Shrew. When I received the packet the day before yesterday, I found out that it was not the film directed by Franco Zeffirelli that I originally wanted, but some stage production by whoever... I was disappointed that I had made such a silly mistake with ordering something else than I wanted. However, only after a minute or two of watching the performance, I was not entirely sure if it was really a mistake, and when Petruchio stepped on the scene, I suddenly realised that this was actually the luckiest choice of DVD I have ever made. Petruchio and Kate are both so lively and wilful. (I do not want to say that the other actors did not do their best - they are ALL wonderful, but Petruchio and Kate are my favourite characters.) When Kate is weary and sad, Fredi Olster has tears in her eyes... The whole cast are playing for the audience, not for the stage, and they do not miss a chance to communicate with the people. It must have been an exceptional and unforgettable experience to see this performance live. For me, it was exceptional even on the screen, and I am sure I will not forget it - I have already seen it twice...

IrishCJH@aol.com Years ago when I first saw this production I was mesmerized. More than a quarter of a century later I can still say that it is the best rendition of "The Taming of the Shrew" that I have ever seen. Thoroughly enjoyable, it appears to follow the original Shakespeare in exactly how I imagine it was meant to be performed for Elizabethan audiences. The actors "played" to the crowd. The bawdy wit was obvious as I am sure it was designed to be. The characters interacted with one another as they would have appeared before an Elizabethan crowd but the dialogue was masterfully spoken in a manner completely understandable to a modern audience. Marc Singer was wonderful. Truly the best performance of his career.

mizzmia It is amazing how perfectly this production works. I love how it is presented in the form of commedia dell'arte. Each role fits as one of the commedia stock characters and the director makes great use of the lazzi of the comic business. It is very cleverly done. The acting is great as well. I think Petruchio and Kate made it seem natural that they fell in love, when it seems kind of sudden when you just read the play. Kate handled the hand beneath the foot scene very well (the words in that scene usually make me cringe!)It is a nearly flawless production that is a great way to show just how much fun Shakespeare really can be!

TPK This ACT version of "Taming of the Shrew" is very different from most of the overproduced movies made from Shakespeare plays--in this stage production, there are no huge set pieces or elaborate props. It's reduced to actors having fun with rich, descriptive language.The trouble with a number of movies made from Shakespeare plays--say, Kenneth Branagh's schizoid, interminable "Hamlet" or Baz Luhrman's MTV-ized version of "Romeo and Juliet"--is that, being movies, they try to make the material more visual. They show, rather than tell, what is going on. As a result, Shakespeare's powerful descriptive passages are reduced, cut, or worse, blazed through as quickly as possible and shoved aside to make room for more eye candy.There's no such difficulty here. This "Shrew" is almost performed on a bare stage, in commedia dell'arte style, with minimal accoutrements and some sound effects for laughs. Everything depends on Shakespeare's rich, inventive language, and the production is the better for it.