10 Things I Hate About You
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| 10 Things I Hate About You | |
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 10 Things I Hate About You poster |
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| Directed by | Gil Junger |
| Produced by | Andrew Lazar |
| Written by | Karen McCullah Lutz Kirsten Smith |
| Starring | Julia Stiles Heath Ledger Larisa Oleynik Joseph Gordon-Levitt David Krumholtz Andrew Keegan |
| Music by | Richard Gibbs |
| Cinematography | Mark Irwin |
| Editing by | O. Nicholas Brown |
| Distributed by | Touchstone Pictures |
| Release date(s) |  March 31, 1999 June 24, 1999 July 9, 1999 |
| Running time | 97 mins. |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Budget | US$16,000,000 (estimated) |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
10 Things I Hate About You is a 1999 American romantic comedy film starring Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Andrew Keegan, David Krumholtz, Larisa Oleynik, and Larry Miller, and is directed by Gil Junger. An adaptation of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew set in a modern American high school, the screenplay was written by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith. The movie's title is a twist on The Taming of the Shrew (see below) but is also a reference to a poem written by the film's female lead to describe her bittersweet romance with the male lead. The film was released March 31, 1999 and was a breakout success for stars Stiles[1][2] and Ledger.[3]
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[edit] Plot
On his first day at Padua High, Cameron falls in love with Bianca Stratford, a beautiful sophomore student. However, Cameron is faced with the problem of Bianca being forbidden to date, due to a family rule set by her strict father, an obstetrician paranoid about Bianca getting pregnant. Cameron is told that Bianca can date when her older sister Katarina, or "Kat" does as well, a rule the elder Stratford engineers because he knows that no one is willing to date Kat, a cynical nonconformist known as a terror in her school.
Not willing to give up, Cameron, along with his newfound best friend Michael Eckman, search the entire school, and come across what seems to be the perfect date for Kat - the mysterious Patrick, "Pat" Verona, who has a reputation for having done hideous and criminal acts, such as "light a state trooper on fire," and "sell his liver on the black market for a new set of speakers". Patrick has no interest in Kat, but Michael devises a plan to have another student, Joey Donner, pay Patrick to take Kat out. Joey, a self-centered model with money, makes a bet with a friend that he could bed Bianca, and, in order to get closer to her, pays Patrick to go out with Kat so he may date Bianca, not knowing that Cameron is attempting to date her as well.
During his faux courtship with her, Patrick and Kat form a genuine rapport and fall in love. Meanwhile, Bianca falls in love with Cameron. Eckman too gains the heart of Kat's best friend, Mandella, after the two discover a mutual infatuation with William Shakespeare. Kat eventually discovers that Patrick was paid to take her out, forcing their relationship to fall apart. Meanwhile, Joey discovers Cameron's attempt to court Bianca, and physically attacks him, which earns Joey the ire of Bianca, who responds by attacking Joey. Kat writes a poem the next day in school, listing the "ten things" she hates about Patrick, the last one being merely an admission that she doesn't really hate him at all, in spite of what has transpired. As a gesture of apology, Patrick buys Kat a guitar with the money Joey paid him so she can start up her own band. This cements their relationship once again, and the film ends with their love very much alive.
[edit] Cast
- Julia Stiles as Katarina "Kat" Stratford
- Heath Ledger as Patrick "Pat" Verona
- Larisa Oleynik as Bianca Stratford
- Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Cameron James
- Larry Miller as Dr. Stratford
- David Krumholtz as Michael Eckman
- Andrew Keegan as Joey Donner
- Susan May Pratt as Mandella
- Gabrielle Union as Chastity
- Allison Janney as Ms. Perky
- Daryl Mitchell as Mr. Morgan
- David Leisure as Mr. Chapin
[edit] Production
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[edit] Filming locations
- Exterior shots were filmed in Tacoma and Seattle, Washington. The high school's exterior was shot at Tacoma's Stadium High School.
- Bianca and Kat's home in the film is in Tacoma's exclusive North End neighborhood. The same neighborhood where the home from "The Hand that Rocks the Cradle" is located.
- The high school marching band which plays during the outdoor stadium scene was actually the Lincoln High School Marching band which is a rival school to Stadium High School.
- A brief scene takes place at the Fremont Troll in Seattle, Washington.
- Katarina and Patrick's date takes place at Gas Works Park in Seattle, Washington.
- The biker bar that Patrick is shown going into is the Buckaroo Tavern in Fremont, Seattle.
[edit] Shakespearean references
10 Things contains many references to Shakespeare's works. Comparison of Taming of the Shrew and 10 Things I Hate About You reveals some similarities, mostly in character names, general plot ideas, and themes.
The two sisters in The Taming of the Shrew are named Katharina and Bianca, while the two sisters in 10 Things are named Katarina and Bianca. Katarina and Bianca's last name is Stratford, making reference to Stratford-upon-Avon, the English town known worldwide as the birthplace of Shakespeare. Katherine's suitor in Shakespeare's play is Petruchio of Verona, which becomes Patrick Verona in 10 Things. In the movie, the high school is named Padua, the city in which Shakespeare's play is set.
Comparison of the two works will also reveal similar plot ideas. For instance, Shakespeare's Lucentio wishes to wed Bianca but cannot until her sister is married. Knowing that Bianca cannot enter into any relationships, he poses as a tutor in order to become closer to Bianca— much as in 10 Things where Cameron takes up French to tutor Bianca. While still posing as Bianca's tutor, Lucentio confers with a somewhat wild character, Petruchio. Like Patrick, he is an out-of-towner and little is known about him. Petruchio agrees to marry Katherine simply for the dowry that comes along with her, allowing Lucentio to pursue Bianca—just as Patrick agreed to date Kat for the money offered to him by Joey.
Compared to most other teen comedies of its time, the characters of 10 Things are unusually verbose, regardless of the cliques to which they belong, which is much in keeping with the style of Shakespeare. At several points the characters also either directly quote Shakespeare or allude to his style of writing in their own speech, typically for comedic value. For example, upon seeing Bianca for the first time, Cameron declares "I burn, I pine, I perish!" Also, when Michael pulls out on his motorbike in front of Kat and she apprehends him, he calls her "the shrew."
An additional tie-in to the work of Shakespeare is the fetish that the character Mandella (Susan May Pratt) has for things Shakespearean, including costumes, plays and poetry. In an apparent third (although not quite as developed as the two lead couples in the final film) coupling, Michael falls for Mandella while learning about Kat. The attraction begins when he starts to quote Macbeth to her and she finishes the line. Mandella is told later in the film that William Shakespeare will be her date to the prom. Fulfilling the promise, Michael appears dressed as William Shakespeare.
The Shakespeare references continue when Kat is assigned to write her own version of Shakespeare's Sonnet 141. Her poem becomes "10 Things I Hate About You."
[edit] Kat's 10 Things I Hate About You
- I hate the way you talk to me, and the way you cut your hair.
- I hate the way you drive my car.
- I hate it when you stare.
- I hate your big dumb combat boots, and the way you read my mind.
- I hate you so much it makes me sick; it even makes me rhyme.
- I hate the way you're always right.
- I hate it when you lie.
- I hate it when you make me laugh, even worse when you make me cry.
- I hate it when you're not around, and the fact that you didn't call.
- But mostly I hate the way I don't hate you. Not even close, not even a little bit, not even at all.
[edit] Trivia
- David Krumholtz requested that his character have a love interest because he did not want the audience to think that his character was a homosexual. So the Mandella character and subplot was developed.
- Kat is accepted to Sarah Lawrence College in the movie; Larisa Oleynik, who played Bianca, actually attended and graduated from that college in 2004.
- Kat's name in the movie coincidentally corresponds to the names of a number of famous artists in the riot grrrl genre of which she's a fan, including Kathleen Hanna, KatieJane Garside and Kathi Wilcox of Bikini Kill (mentioned in the movie), Kat Bjelland of Babes in Toyland, and infamous punk writer Kathy Acker.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Aames, Ethan. "Julia Stiles on "The Omen"". Cinema Confidential News. June 5, 2006. Retrieved on October 28, 2006.
- ^ Eisenbach, Helen. "10 Thing We Love About Julia Stiles". Manhattan File Magazine. January 2000. Retrieved October 28, 2006.
- ^ Maher, Kevin. "Heath Ledger- The Accidental Hero". Times Sunday Magazine. October 14, 2006. Retrieved October 28, 2006.
