THE TEMPEST
Rating: PG-13
Studio:Touchstone Pictures/Walt Disney Pictures
MSRP: $39.99 but Amazon has the blu-ray for $24.99.
Running Time: 110mins
What’s Going On?
Julie Taymor (ACROSS THE UNIVERSE) directs an adaptation of one of Shakespeare’s final plays, in which Prospero (who Taymor has made a female Prospera) a duke who’s also a wizard has been exiled to an island and seeks revenge against the people who wronged him – or her in the film’s case.
Who’s In It:
Helen Mirren stars as Prospera, and the cast also features the likes of Felicity Jones, Reeve Carney, David Strathairn, Alan Cumming, Chris Cooper, Ben Whishaw, Djimon Hounsou, Alfred Molina, and Russell Brand. Yes, really.
If You Like…:
Shakespeare, Helen Mirren being awesome, art direction, or Julie Taymor’s unique visual style, I’d check this out.
Special Features:
Raising the Tempest is a making of documentary that starts with Taymor’s initial experience with The Tempest, which was directing a production of it in New York that was done in a very minimalist style, as we learn through footage from the play. It also covers the costume and makeup design, as well as the casting and extensive rehearsal process on the film.
There are two commentaries one from Julie Taymor, which was far more interesting than I expected it to be and it gave me more respect for Taymor than I expected after the disaster that was Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark. For all the English nerds out there – myself included – there’s a Shakespeare Experts commentary, which is touch on the drier side, but I personally found pretty engaging, though they did seem to find experts that LOVED the film, but bias will reign, I suppose.
There’s a small section of L.A. Rehearsal footage, featuring Djimon Honsou, Alfred Molina, and Russell working out the logistics of the scene in which their characters all meet for the first time and how to find the humor in the scene while keeping the emotions of Shakespeare’s text still in tact. It’s ancillary, but still fun to watch.
The Technical Gist
Julie Taymor’s films are so rich with detail in nearly every aspect of the film’s design – the costumes and makeup here are particularly incredible – that they really are suited to the blu-ray format and you’d miss out on all of the intricate detail without it. That being said, the film looks incredible. Every detail, from the volcanic rock of the island to the lines of Mirren’s face are hewn in clear detail.
The Verdict
While the film still suffers from being a bit long, this isn’t Taymor’s fault per se, since she’s working directly from the source material and this play, while one of Shakespeare’s last, it isn’t necessarily known as his best. However, it’s one of the better Shakespeare adaptaions in recent memory, and is a definite BUY if you’re a fan of the Bard. Julie Taymor, Helen Mirren and visual spectacle fans should QUEUE IT.
