People are voting emotionally.
It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,
View MoreThis movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows
View MoreStory: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.
It is a great pleasure to review something you liked twenty years ago to find that it is actually better than you remembered it. Such is the case with this production of "Taming of the Shrew"This is not only by far the most lively and good-natured version of the play I have ever seen on stage or film, but it also seems to be directed in accord with the commedia dell'arte tradition that has surely been very much on Shakespeare's mind when he wrote the play. There is a multitude of 'in-your-face' gags (the audience is never lured into the deceptive ruses of naturalistic theater, but are constantly made aware of their own presence) and scores of Italian 'lazzi' - stunts of every kind. We have a remarkably acrobatic duo in Kate (Fredi Olster) and Petrucchio (marc Singer), and their first scene together - where every piece of Shakespearean lewdness is brought out to us with a vengeance - is rewarded by a full minute of accolades from the delighted, live audience before which the production was filmed in 1976.Of all in the cast I only knew Marc Singer, and remembered him only from a sci-fi series ("V"?) and a Harold Robbins series (Park Avenue 79?), but this is truly his claim to fame.If you never see another Shakespeare play in your life, be sure to catch this one. After 25 years of searching in vain, it was finally brought to me by the miraculous combination of the internet and my visa card. Brave new world, indeed!
View MoreThe San Fransisco American Conservatory Theater gives an outstanding performance in a highly acclaimed production of Taming Of The Shrew. Just watching the actors facial expressions will leave you in hysterics. Marc Singer and Freddi Olster have a beautiful chemistry as Petruchio and the impossible Kate. This is one of the best productions of any kind I've ever seen. Anyone wanting to purchase this film can get it through Amazon.com or the Broadway Theater Archive!!!
View MoreI saw this production in a theatre class back in the late 70's and have never forgotten it -- this was the first time I'd seen a production of "Taming of the Shrew" that didn't offend my feminist sensibilities! It was fast paced (as Shakespeare's comedies should be), physical and fun, well directed and acted.
View MoreI saw this twenty years ago, and it has stuck in my mind ever since. The Taming of the Shrew is very difficult to perform without sexism, but in this production it was very clear that -- even though Petruchio's original plan was just to find a wealthy wife -- he quickly came to love and respect Katharine, and that his motivation was to help her break out of an unpleasant persona she had created and gotten locked into. And in return, free of her old self, she respected and loved him, and so was happy to help him look good. I wish it were available on video: I'd really like to see it again.
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