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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The absolute best,
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Taming of the Shrew (DVD)
In my almost complete collection of Shakespeare DVDs this is a unique pearl. I could not believe the other review at amazon.co.uk. After very long hesitation I purchased the region 2 encoded version with the unhelpful Netherland undertitling.
This was the effect: On Wednesday I watched it alone, on Thursday with my friend, on the weekend with the whole family; and the next weekend with friends of the family. We had such a great fun, that for weeks we were quoting to each other from the movie! Never before or afterwards did I see a record of this play performed in such a witty and screwball-comedy-like way - and still in a very understandable language. If a fairy would grant me two wishes, I would have this play digitally remastered and other plays of the bard performed in this way too...
5.0 out of 5 stars
Shakespeare for Everybody,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Taming of the Shrew (DVD)
In spite of the fact that I own several of Shakespeare's dramas in print, I have never really become fond of any of them with the possible exception of "The Tempest." And to tell the truth, the machismo idea of a husband controlling his wife completely does not go over big with me, since I have my own ideas and opinions for which I am willing to fight.
But this 1974 production charmed me the first time I saw it on television. Part of it was the comedy, the buffoonery, the utter ridiculousness of some scenes, among them the (Greek) chorus. The other part was something that cannot be read in a printed version of the drama, and that was the relationship between the two leads. The moment they see each other, there is something between them which made me feel that they actually fall in love at first glance and don't want to admit it. In the text, Petruchio is presented as a man who just wants to marry a rich wife, no matter how old, ugly or stupid she is. Marc Singer plays him as a outward bully with a sensitive side which he does not show very often. Several times we see him dejected because he is sure Katherina is going to show him up before the others, and when she turns up sweet, we see the immediate change to outward confidence as if he had never doubted her complete submission to him. But who could not see the twinkle in Katharina's eye during her last speech where she exhorts her sister and other women to be obedient and do everything to please their husband and master? And after Petruchio had demonstrated to all and sundry that he had tamed his wife, he was probably content to have as lively a marriage as his courtship had been; otherwise he would have been bored stiff.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Absolutely brilliant, the best of Marc Singer's blighted career,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Taming of the Shrew (DVD)
This is the best "Taming of the Shrew" I have ever seen, in more than 30 years of theater-going in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, and London. And, specifically, Marc Singer presents the best Petruchio of all time.
But to the specifics: I saw this production the first time at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. You know there are times when the curtain goes up and within the first minute or two you know you're watching a classic? That was my reaction to this version of "Taming of the Shrew." The production is based on Comedia del Arte performances which were popular when Shakespeare was writing, so there is no reason to assume he didn't know of them. It's like no performance you've ever seen. The entire production is designed in a dark pink and cream. The costumes are based on Comedia del Arte style, and the codpieces are stuffed as appropriate to each character. Even in Shakespeare's time, the stuffing of codpieces was a common humorous device. Weak male characters would appear with flat and practically empty codpieces. Strong male characters (like Marc Singer's particularly well-musceled Petruchio) appear with full, handsome, but not ridiculous codpieces. Comic males could have codpieces that ranged from flat to ridiculously long, sticklike protrusions. To this day, the degree to which male dancers stuff their jockstraps is always a question of lively debate. In any case, the production is stunningly physical, with amazingly choreographed stunts, culminating in the wooing scene, in which the tempestuous Kate winds up seven feet from the floor, held up by Singer's very strong arms. It is, to say the least, a robust, knock-about performance. It's also, literally, a very fast performance. The lines, while crisply delivered are piled so fast one upon the other until (to paraphrase Time magazine's unique style of the 1950's) crosses the eyes and reels the head. As a result, the play is nearly over before you notice you're into the last act. It's a fresh, athletic, and truly brilliant adaptation by ACT's William Ball. The jokes are broad and crude, the limbs flailing, and yet all so carefully crafted that each speech seems to flow in naturally with the rest. This is a "Shrew" for the ages. Lord knows I've been waiting 30 years for it. Even subtitled in Dutch, it's a must for any fan of the play. Or for anyone who wants to know, "What is all this Shakespeare business in the first place?" Yes, it's true, it's a region-2 recording, which means you need a region-free DVD player. I've always been happy with the Phillips players I've bought. After all, without a region-free player, I wouldn't have been able to watch such classics as "Space Rangers," a truly marvelous one-season sci-fi show with plenty of satire of the old standard sci-fi shows, but with plenty of good writing as well. WARNING: My husband, like his lamentably late mother, both had and (in my husband's case) have problems with rapid speech. And even more problems with accented speech such as the now-classic British "mid-Atlantic" accent. If you or yours have problems with fast speech, you should probably skip this version. Wonderful as I think it is, you probably wouldn't enjoy it as much as you should, unless, of course, you treat it like opera and listen to the rhythm and watch the gymnastics.
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