472 - The Taming of the Shrew, Italy/US, 1967. Dir. Franco Zefferelli.

Tuesday, April 16, 2018

472 - The Taming of the Shrew, Italy/US, 1967.  Dir. Franco Zefferelli.

Kiss me, Kate.

So says Petruchio to Katherina.  With an a.

But then, Henry V also says it to Katharine, the Queen of France.  With an e.

So whether your are Katherina with an a or Katharine with an e, someone calling you Kate wants you to kiss him.

It is a good thing Petruchio has come along too, because without him, no one else could get kissed.

Why is that?

Because everybody wants Bianca.  All the suitors are suiting her, but their suits are unsuitable, as they do not suit her father.

Why is that?

Because Katherina, with an a, is the older sister.  Bianca, with an a, is the younger sister.  And Baptista Minola of Padua, with three a's, the father, decrees that the older must be married before the younger.

Like Jacob wanting Rachel but having to marry Leah first.  Because Laban said so.  Because Laban follows custom.  And Baptista Minola likewise follows custom.

So all these men who want to fight each other over Bianca must wait for Katherina to be married first.

The only problem is that no one wants Katherina.

She never gives them a chance.  She has this tendency to turn off people.  She has a bit of a temper.  A sharp tongue.  A short fuse.  A strong will.

She is a shrew.

A nag, a harpy, a termagant, a biddy, a carper, a harridan, a hellion, a hussy, a madcap, an ogress, a porcupine, a crone, a strumpet, a spitfire, a tigress, a virago, a vixen, a wench.

A scold.

But none of that deters Petruchio.  He is unfazed.  He has what it takes to win her over.

Will power.

Tenacity.

Resolution.

Will he win her?  Will she marry him?

He knows the secret of speaking what he wants as though it already were.

The two leads are played respectively by Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor.  Who only have to play themselves.  As the movie reflects much of their real-life chemistry with one another.

With them in it, it might have been called The Tempest.

One might say their relationship was a bit fiery.

Consider Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn.  They loved each other for 25 years, until his death, and made 9 movies together.  They never married.

Meanwhile, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor were together 22 years, until his death, and made 11 movies together.  And they did marry.  Twice.  And divorced.  Twice.

Is that all?

But you do not have to watch this movie just to see the drama.  Whether on- or off-screen.  You may watch it for Franco Zefferelli's brilliant production.  The sets.  The costumes.  The colors.  The music.

The more we watch these Shakespeare films, the more we realize how creative clothing used to be.  And how our most fashionable threads in comparison look like paper sacks.

The film also offers the contented repose of familiarity.  Like comfort food.  Outdoor scenes shot indoors on a sound stage.  With planted greenery, tricked-out perspective, and matte paintings.  And piped-in rain.  What people used to think of as the movies.  Before directors discovered the satisfying-in-a-different-way grittiness of location shooting.

The film, like the play, gives insights into relationships and will power.  Watch it in the spirit in which it was intended.

It follows similar themes to a movie we saw last year, on April 12.  Roger Vadim's . . . And God Created Woman (1956).

http://realbillbillions.blogspot.com/2017/04/102-and-god-created-woman-1956-france.html

The man who wants it most wins.

And being a winner, God give you good night.