Marquee Attraction: The Tempest
Release Date: December 12, 2010
Budget: $20 million
Domestic Box Office Gross: $277,943
Worldwide Box Office Gross: $405,861
Plot Synopsis
Prospera, a sorceress, and the wife of the Duke of Milan, has been exiled to an island with her daughter, as her husband’s title was assumed by her brother Antonio. The King of Naples, Alonso, helped him, and thus poor Prospera is left outcast, labelled a sorceress.
When the royal court is washed ashore on a lifeless island, Antonio, Alonso, and their group soon learn this was not an accident. Prospera bewitched the weather to wreck the ship and bring them to her island. She aims to have her vengeance and protect her daughter Miranda.
With the help of Caliban, and Ariel, Prospera is all but certain she will attain her justice, but life tends to throw a curveball at those who are looking for revenge. Miranda falls in love with Prince Ferdinand.
What shall a sorceress like Prospera do? Should she continue her quest for satisfaction, or break the chain of violence?
Standing Ovation
Helen Mirren is simply radiant. She is a tour de force of power that is as strong as the gale force winds that Prospera wields. This film simply doesn’t work without Mirren in the lead role, and no one else can match her intensity or strength in such a role.
Any movie that has David Strathairn in it will immediately catch my attention. His work as King Alonso is filled with gravitas and presence that some actors would spend decades trying to learn but will never have to the level that Strathairn brings to his roles.
Time for the Hook
Russell Brand is funny, but I don’t think he works as Trinculo. There is a manic personality to the character that Brand is great at in movies like Forgetting Sarah Marshal, but it distracts from the narrative in The Tempest.
Bit Part Player
Alfred Molina is no bit part player, but his wonderfully funny, and poignant work as Stephano is the perfect example of the category. The part could be given to anyone, but only Molina makes the role memorable in a handful of scenes.
Did You Know?
- The movie was shot at Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park.
- Sandy Powell received an Oscar nomination for Best Achievement in Costume Design for her work on the film. This was her ninth nomination for her work.
- Mirren was nominated for a Satellite Award for her work as Prospera.
- The original Shakespeare lead character of the play was a man named Prospero.
- Taymor explains that she changed the gender of Prospero because she didn’t really have any male actors in mind for the role and when she held a reading of the play with Prospero changing to Prospera, it really changed the play for the better.
- In the play Prospero is the Duke of Milan. In the movie Prospera is his wife, which leads to having the character being more overtly wronged, thus opening new avenues of story telling in the familiar Shakespeare world.
- Julie Taymor had met Helen Mirren at a party with her in mind to play Prospera, and they struck up a conversation about the play and how Mirren had played Caliban before, and according to Taymor in their conversation, Mirren stated that she could play Prospero as a woman, and that is when Taymor asked her if she wanted the role. Mirren accepted.
- Alan Cumming previously starred in Taymor’s 1999 Shakespeare adaptation Titus. That is a film that is simply astounding.
- Alfred Molina previously appeared in 2006’s As You Like It.
- The film premiered at the 2010 Venice Film Festival.
- When Disney sold Miramax in December 2010, they took over distribution through Touchstone Pictures.
- Reeve Carney would go on to star in Taymor’s Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark Broadway adaptation.
Best Quotable Line
“We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little lives are rounded with a sleep.”
Casting Call
- Helen Mirren as Prospera
- Felicity Jones as Miranda
- Djimon Hounsou as Caliban
- David Strathairn as King Alonso
- Alan Cumming as Sebastian
- Chris Cooper as Antonio
- Ben Whishaw as Ariel
- Alfred Molina as Stephano
- Reeve Carney as Prince Ferdinand
Production Team:
Directed by Julie Taymor
Produced by Touchstone Pictures / Miramax / TalkStory Productions
Written by Julie Taymor / William Shakespeare
My Critical Response
{Snub– Skip this Film, Lifeboat Award– Desperate for Something to Watch, Commuter Comforter– A Perfect Film for Any Device, Jaw Dropper– You Must Watch This Film on a Big Screen, Rosebud Award– This Film is Cinema.}
Julie Taymor is the type of director that whatever she does will always get my attention. Her work is simply on another level compared to many of her contemporaries. In the past she brought a new look to Shakespeare with her Anthony Hopkins vehicle, Titus, which made me want to read the play.
The Tempest is art, and while it holds the beauty and mysticism of the original play with some tweaks that show the wonder, there is something about the film that just doesn’t add up to making the movie a masterpiece.
It strives for much in its runtime, which isn’t that long, but the special effects that show some of the spirits and magic only take me out of the film rather than enhancing my experience.
Helen Mirren is excellent, Julie Taymor is brilliant, but The Tempest gets my Commuter Comforter award. It’s a wonderful film that you don’t have to invest too much time in.
Coming Soon
Next week a look back at the South African import, Oh Shucks. . . Pay Back the Money.