When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

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 play on which the film is based is certainly misogynistic but that it is to be expected as it was written in the 1590s. That said, I can't say that I found the physical sparring between Petruchio and Kate funny, though the verbal sparring was often hilarious. The most notable omission from the film is the Christopher Sly frame story, which is a shame as the henpecked drunk serves as a great contrast to Petruchio.An accomplished Shakespearean actor who had previously played Hamlet on Broadway, Richard Burton is excellent as Petruchio, putting his excellent voice and beautiful accent to great use. In stark contrast to her then husband, Liz Taylor had never performed Shakespeare before but she does very well with the material and, as always, they had great on screen and, in this case, particularly intense chemistry. Burton and Taylor were of course famous for two tempestuous marriages so perhaps they could relate to the characters more than other actors would have! The supporting cast is generally very strong, particularly Michael Hordern as Kate's father Baptista, Cyril Cusack as Grumio, Michael York as Lucentio (in his first major film appearance), Alfred Lynch as Tranio and Vernon Dobtcheff as the Pedant. On the negative side, Alan Webb and Victor Spinetti are very over the top as Gremio and Hortensio respectively but neither of them play a big role.The crux of the play is Kate's speech in the final scene in which she says "thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper, thy head, thy sovereign" and the way in which it is interpreted consequently determines the message of the relevant adaptation. The most common interpretations are either that Petruchio has successfully tamed Kate or that she is deceiving him into thinking that he has done so. Liz Taylor's delivery of the speech suggests that Kate is being sincere. However, the fact that she runs away laughing immediately afterwards belies this so I assume that the message that the screenwriters were trying to convey was that a strong man can be controlled by an even stronger woman without him realising it.Overall, this is an outrageously fun and extremely good adaptation which is very well directed by Franco Zeffirelli in his film debut. However, it is on nowhere near the same level as his version of "Romeo and Juliet" released the following year. As in that film though, the sets, costumes and locations are fantastic.

'The Taming of the Shrew' is one of the classic Shakespeare comedy film ever made by the 'Shakespearean Director' Franco Zeffirelli in the early 1960s. The exceptional acting in the film has been made by Elizabeth Taylor as Katharina and her second husband Richard Burton as Petruchio. It was a golden time for them too while acted together. The others were starred by Michael Hordern as Baptista, Natasha Pyne as Bianca and Michael York as Lucentio. It won an Academy Award for the set direction and costume design. Though it's a faithful version of the play, it had the subplot of Bianca missing plus the tinker which is not that important. It was produced by Franco Zeffirelli and MGM studios. This is the story about a hot-tempered but beautiful woman named Katharina who married to a wise noble named Petruchio. According to the director, this film is based on how Katharina rediscovers herself from a hot-tempered woman to a gentle lady that her husband transformed her to. The costumes are authentic as expected in Shakespeare's time. It was set in Italy as told in the play but it was shot under the studio. This version inspired most people that some other directors can make a contemporary version based on the same. Elizabeth Taylor as in real life didn't do any of the Shakespearean films before as this film is her first role in the Shakespeare play. She looked stunning in her costume but was also exceptional as she showed her 'tamed side' after meeting Petruchio who also done justice to his role. The atmosphere almost adjusts the play due to the dialogue was written. Some dialogues were replaced to help the contemporary audiences to understand the Shakespearean language. Burton made an exceptional acting rather than Taylor but the chemistry was superb as I think. The comedy was worth laughing due to its content. Michael Hordern was not there much but he gave an active role as a father which was worth laughing. The climax shows the message where both the play and the films tried to represent. The message of the film was shown by running its plot but it sometimes dragged that we become bored and miss the subplot of Bianca but foreshadowed by its comedy. Natasha played a cute Bianca but a cat-like expression that wowed the audience. The development of the characters was not perfect except for Baptista, Katharina, Bianca and Petruchio's acting. Overall, the story and its screenplay were authentic but the acting was mind-blowing, as I think. As people say 'Old-is-Gold', yes it is true that the 'real' movies ruled the 60s. It was such an era that anyone cannot forget where educative films were made with a little entertainment.

Hollywood's golden age produced many films that will never die and it could definitely include The Taming of the Shrew as one of its greatest. Directed by Franco Zeffirelli, the famed Shakespeare enthusiast whose works include the successful later adaption of Romeo and Juliet in 1968, this film showcases his devout love of Shakespearean plays. Zeffirelli was clearly ahead of his game at the time, which can be shown through his use of some of the best resources Hollywood had to offer; including leading actress Elizabeth Taylor and Actor Richard Burton.The film boasts the use of prodigy Nino Rota's music which draws the audience into the atmosphere of the film and gets them hooked on the storyline. The set and costumes are immaculate; they truly lead the viewer to believe that it is set in the late 1500's. Attention-to-detail is impressively significant; fine details in the background, such as a labelled drunkard hanging in a cage over the street, are what intensify the film's quality greatly. There is one point in which Lucentio's accomplice talks directly to the camera about the situation and I found that this brought an interesting touch to the camera work; it almost felt as though I was part of the film! The script is also relatively similar to Shakespeare's original text and some memorable line's such Petruchio claiming "Will you, Nill you, I will Marry you" are none the less brought to life by Burton's macho voice. The fiery character of Katharina is also brilliantly portrayed through Taylor's acting, although some could argue that perhaps she should have toned down her make-up and overacting in a role such as this. The priest's obvious fear of Katharina is shown at the marriage ceremony; a fear which is only too common in the story! Humour is rarely used vocally in the film, but it seems as though Katharina's rages and reactions, as well as a personal comedic key point of Petruchio chuckling as well as engaging in a choking fit during the marriage ceremony, appear to be examples of the type of humour seen in the film. Compared to the original text, it could be said that the humour was quenched and replaced with a more modern quirky version.However, it is inevitable that one would notice that this film seems to focus overly on the characters of Katharina and Petruchio, even perhaps on the real life relationship of Taylor and Burton, as this was filmed during their first marriage. The couple lived their lives in the eyes of the media and I somewhat got the impression that Zeffirelli may have used this to his advantage in order to secure more popularity for his film. The power of Elizabeth Taylor as an actress is highlighted and despite that fact that her character is quite unattractive to the audience, I found that towards the end of the film, I had almost become a fanatic of her and was interested in viewing more of her work. The role of a young, unmarried girl is almost unrealistic for her as she was in her thirties when the film was released. The chemistry between Taylor and Burton positively enhances the impact of the film and it is undeniable that the pair are profoundly comfortable with each other, even though the storyline tells a different story. On the other hand, it is noticeable that other characters in the film were very much in the shadow of Katharina and Petruchio. The character of Bianca seems to have gotten much less attention in the film than I had expected, which I disagree with as she is the cause that led to Petruchio trying to woo Katharina.The film had flaws which were more substantial than the previous. Petruchio's mental abuse of Katharina after their marriage in the film was short of appalling. I found that, at times, I became quite uncomfortable during the film and would have preferred if Zeffirelli had perhaps sugar-coated some of Petruchio's harsh actions. Katharina's spirit is more so shown as broken, as opposed to her personality being tamed, which added an unwanted melancholy touch to the film. The duration of the film was likewise exhausting, as I perceived that my attention diminished at times.Over all, The Taming of the Shrew is an enjoyable film, but unfortunately it is not suited to modern audiences, as some aspects may disgruntle viewers, particularly feminists. At the time of its production, it was of remarkable quality, but in today's world it is somewhat timeworn. However, older audiences would definitely gain a thriller from watching the film and viewers of any age would kindly warm to the character of Katharina and even Elizabeth Taylor as an actress, as I believe that amongst Cleopatra, this film is doubtlessly one of the greatest showcases of her career.