The Tempest (2010 film)

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The Tempest
The Tempest 2010 poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Julie Taymor
Screenplay byJulie Taymor
Based on The Tempest
by William Shakespeare
Produced byJulie Taymor
Robert Chartoff
Lynn Hendee
Julia Taylor-Stanley
Jason K. Lau
Starring Helen Mirren
Russell Brand
Reeve Carney
Tom Conti
Chris Cooper
Alan Cumming
Djimon Hounsou
Felicity Jones
Alfred Molina
David Strathairn
Ben Whishaw
Cinematography Stuart Dryburgh
Edited by Françoise Bonnot
Music by Elliot Goldenthal
Production
companies
Touchstone Pictures
Miramax Films
Chartoff/Hendee Productions
TalkStory Productions
Artemis Films
Mumbai Mantra Media Limited
Distributed by Walt Disney Studios
Motion Pictures
Release dates
  • September 11, 2010 (2010-09-11)(Venice)
  • December 10, 2010 (2010-12-10)(United States)
Running time
110 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$20 million [1]
Box office$346,594 [1]

The Tempest is a 2010 American fantasy comedy-drama film based on the 1611 play of the same name by William Shakespeare. In this version, the gender of the main character, Prospero, is changed from male to female; the role was played by Helen Mirren. The film was written and directed by Julie Taymor and premiered at the Venice Film Festival on September 11, 2010.

Contents

Although The Tempest received generally mixed reviews from critics, Sandy Powell received her ninth Academy Award nomination for Best Costume Design.

Plot

Prospera, the duchess of Milan, is secretly denounced as a sorceress and usurped by her brother Antonio, with aid from Alonso, the King of Naples, and is cast off in a small boat to die with her three-year-old daughter Miranda. They survive, finding themselves stranded on an island where the human beast Caliban is the sole inhabitant. Prospera enslaves Caliban, frees the captive spirit Ariel, and claims the island. After 12 years, Alonso sails back to his kingdom after the marriage of his daughter to the prince of Tunisia, accompanied by his son Ferdinand, his brother Sebastian and Antonio. Prospera, seizing her chance for revenge, with Ariel's help causes a tempest, wrecking the ship and stranding those on board on her island.

Cast

Production

The film, based on the play of the same name by William Shakespeare, is written and directed by Julie Taymor. The play's main character is Prospero, a male in the original play. [2] Taymor explained the casting decision, "I didn't really have a male actor that excited me in mind, and yet there had been a couple of phenomenal females Helen Mirren being one of them who [made me think]: 'My God, does this play change? What happens if you make that role into a female role?'" Taymor held a reading and found that the story could accommodate the change of gender without being gimmicky. [3]

In Shakespeare's play, Prospero is the Duke of Milan. In the adaptation, Prospera is the wife of the Duke. She is "more overtly wronged" than Prospero; when the duke dies, Prospera's brother Antonio (played by Chris Cooper) accuses her of killing him with witchcraft. Antonio makes the accusation to be rid of Prospera and claim her royal title. Taymor said, "She had her whole life taken away from her because she was a woman." Prospera wants to prevent the same thing from happening to her daughter. [4]

Principal photography took place around volcanic areas of the big island of Hawaii and Lanai. [4] [5]

Release

The Tempest premiered at the Venice Film Festival on September 11, 2010, as the festival's closing film. When Disney sold Miramax Films to Filmyard Holdings, LLC on December 3, 2010, Disney took over distribution through its division Touchstone Pictures. The film was released on December 10, 2010. [4]

Reception

The film has received mixed to negative reviews from critics; Rotten Tomatoes maintains that 30% of 89 reviewers gave a positive review with an average score of 4.69/10. The site's consensus states: "Director Julie Taymor's gender-swapping of roles and some frenzied special effects can't quite disguise an otherwise stagey, uninspired take on Shakespeare's classic." [6] It also has a score of 43 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on 28 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". [7]

Entertainment Weekly said the film – "theatrically ambitious, musically busy, and in the end cinematically inert – clearly reflects the authorship of myth-loving director Julie Taymor." [8] USA Today found that "Mirren keeps the film on track. But incomprehensible shouting and pointless shenanigans obscure subtle moments." [9] In a similar vein, Newsweek said "the film's special effects, to a surprising extent, add little to the story", and that "next to the concise power of [Shakespeare's] language, the screen wizardry of even a resourceful director like Taymor seems like rough magic indeed". [10] However, The New Yorker's David Denby pointed out the film's strengths, most particularly Helen Mirren's performance as Prospera: "Mirren has the range and power to play a woman with unprecedented control of the elements, and over men, too." [11] Sandra Hall in The Sydney Morning Herald is more generous toward Taymor's vision, saying, "In the scene that explains the circumstances of mother and daughter's banishment from the dukedom of Milan, Taymor has skillfully tweaked Shakespeare's lines to take account of her new scenario", and praising the film's visual elements. [12]

Accolades

AwardDate of ceremonyCategoryNomineeResult
Academy Awards [13] February 27, 2011 Best Costume Design Sandy Powell Lost to Colleen Atwood (Alice in Wonderland)
Satellite Awards [14] December 19, 2010 Best Actress Helen Mirren Lost to Noomi Rapace (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prospero</span> Character in William Shakespeares The Tempest

Prospero is a fictional character and the protagonist of William Shakespeare's The Tempest.

Caliban, son of the witch Sycorax, is an important character in William Shakespeare's play The Tempest.

Miranda (<i>The Tempest</i>) Character in The Tempest

Miranda is one of the principal characters of William Shakespeare's The Tempest. She is the only female character to appear on stage.

<i>Prosperos Books</i> 1991 British film by Peter Greenaway

Prospero's Books is a 1991 British avant-garde film adaptation of William Shakespeare's The Tempest, written and directed by Peter Greenaway. Sir John Gielgud plays Prospero, the protagonist who provides the off-screen narration and the voices to the other story characters. As noted by Peter Conrad in The New York Times on 17 November 1991, Greenaway intended the film “as an homage to the actor and to his 'mastery of illusion.' In the film, Prospero is Shakespeare, and having rehearsed the action inside his head, speaking the lines of all the other characters, he concludes the film by sitting down to write The Tempest.”

The Tempest is an opera by English composer Thomas Adès with a libretto in English by Meredith Oakes based on the play The Tempest by William Shakespeare.

<i>The Tempest</i> (1979 film) 1979 British drama film

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<i>Scene from Shakespeares The Tempest</i> c. 1736–1738 painting by William Hogarth

Scene from Shakespeare's The Tempest, also known as Ferdinand courting Miranda is an oil painting by the English painter William Hogarth. It has been displayed at Nostell Priory since 1766, and was acquired by the National Trust in 2002. The National Trust claims that it is "the first known painting of a scene from Shakespeare".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sycorax</span> Character in Shakespeares The Tempest

Sycorax is an unseen character in William Shakespeare's play The Tempest (1611). She is a vicious and powerful witch and the mother of Caliban, one of the few native inhabitants of the island on which Prospero, the hero of the play, is stranded.

Gonzalo is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's The Tempest.

Stephano (<i>The Tempest</i>) Character in The Tempest

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Ariel (<i>The Tempest</i>) Character in The Tempest

Ariel is a spirit who appears in William Shakespeare's play The Tempest. Ariel is bound to serve the magician Prospero, who rescued him from the tree in which he was imprisoned by Sycorax, the witch who previously inhabited the island. Prospero greets disobedience with a reminder that he saved Ariel from Sycorax's spells, and with promises to grant Ariel his freedom. Ariel is Prospero's eyes and ears throughout the play, using his magical abilities to cause the tempest in Act One which gives the play its name, and to foil other characters' plots to bring down their master.

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<i>The Tempest</i> Play by William Shakespeare

The Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1610–1611, and thought to be one of the last plays that he wrote alone. After the first scene, which takes place on a ship at sea during a tempest, the rest of the story is set on a remote island, where Prospero, a wizard, lives with his daughter Miranda, and his two servants: Caliban, a savage monster figure, and Ariel, an airy spirit. The play contains music and songs that evoke the spirit of enchantment on the island. It explores many themes, including magic, betrayal, revenge, and family. In Act IV, a wedding masque serves as a play-within-a-play, and contributes spectacle, allegory, and elevated language.

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<i>Hag-Seed</i> 2016 novel by Margaret Atwood

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<i>The Tempest</i> (1963 film) 1963 Australian TV series or program

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The Tempest is a 1960 American TV movie based on the play by William Shakespeare. Airing on NBC, it was directed by George Schaefer, who said the play was ideal for TV because it could be easily done in 90 minutes.

<i>The Tempest</i> (1908 film) 1908 British film

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References

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  13. "Nominees for the 83rd Academy Awards". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . Retrieved July 22, 2021.
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