Scanialara You won't be disappointed!

Cubussoli Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

insomnimom This version is not my favorite because I'm an English teacher who believes that this extremely low-key version is much too subtle to entertain students. Or me.(But then again, the Zeffirelli version is so overblown and hyperactive, I don't think it's that great either. I think I'm going to have to stick with the American Conservatory Theater's commedia dell'arte performance as my favorite filmed version. I wish so much I could find a straight version of this play on film.) My first quarrel is that Simon Chandler (Lucentio) delivers his lines so quickly in the play's opening scene that he's impossible to understand. And then there's John Cleese as Petruchio burying his face in his hands as he washes and mumbling as he splashes. It's very frustrating not to be able to understand what actors are saying and those are two of the times I noted that happening in this film.I also didn't feel that the sets contributed to the film. They were spare -- although the set for the Minola's house was very beautiful -- but they were so...beige. And the costumes were so...beige. It was almost like seeing the play in sepia tones.As far as showing the play in a classroom goes, I don't like the scene where Lucentio tries to cop a feel of Bianca's breast as he "translates Latin" for her. It seemed gratuitous, considering the plodding pace of the rest of the film. I know it's very brief, but I still found it irritating. It came out of nowhere - whoa! A hand! Trying to touch a boob! And then we're back to the snoozing.All in all, this extremely Burrrrriddish version of Shrew shows how comedy has changed over the past 400 years -- in Shakespeare's day, I imagine there was a lot more joy, a bawdy romp. This version is so terribly, terribly dull, in my opinion. I don't think the performances are brilliant. I don't sense the magic.

jcrodden I saw this when first broadcast on PBS. I have no idea where you would find it now. It was a bit minimalist in its setting and staging, but that was part of the wonderful effect. I believe (and hope I am getting this right) that Jonathon Miller said the goal was to very much represent what an Elizabethan playgoer would have seen if they had been to an opening performance of Bill Shakespeare's plays. I seem to recall John Cleese saying that it came to him some time into rehearsals that this was the official BBC version for the next several decades and that he was shocked that he had stupidly missed that point until later and also shocked that he had that much responsibility. He ended up hiring a tutor to run lines with him so he could get every word with 100% accuracy.I wish I could find it to see again.

au561 Unlike Taylor, Burton, and Zefferelli, who run roughshod over Shakespere's script and chew the scenery like buffoons; Jonathon Miller's intelligent direction and John Cleese's droll performance illuminate the true depth of the play. Cleese is ever mindful of the brilliance of Katherine's intellect and seduces rather than browbeats her to be his love. While at the same time being seduced by her mind and deeply loving heart. Not a farce as it is most often produced, but a true battle of wits, where both combatants win.

paulrubin Miller's production of Taming of the Shrew had a shortcoming it shared with many of the other BBC Shakespeare series productions; It was produced as a theatrical piece and not as video/film. This was more than offset, however, by the brilliant performance of John Cleese as Petruchio. Cleese played Kate's suitor with an understated, british style that at once illuminated the bard's words and drew a direct line between Shakespeare and Monty Python. Listen to him trail off on his 'Think you a little din can daunt my ears' speech and you will understand that humor has not really changed in 400 years.