Julie Taymor’s adaptation of The Bard’s final play is visually curious with a score reaching for the dizzy heights of the Rock Opera FLASH GORDON but falls short on the acting.
THE TEMPEST features Helen Mirren as Prospera, typically a male role, who lives on an island with her daughter, Miranda (Felicity Jones). They escaped there after her brother looks to kill her. With the help of her servant sprite, Ariel, she brings the King and his court who are sailing home, to her island with a tempest, sinking the ship and washing up its crew on shore. She toys with each of them while orchestrating the romance between Miranda and the King’s son.
The film is probably the most visually arresting Shakespeare play adapted into film with it’s extreme flights of colour, computer generated fancy and gender bending, musical spirits. That’s not to say it over uses the computer effects such as the case in Tim Burton’s ALICE IN WONDERLAND. Taymor uses effects more on the level of Seventies films like BARBARELLA. The story is interesting and I can’t compare it to any other production of THE TEMPEST as I haven’t seen any but, rather than being the ultimate version of the play it just intrigues me to see another production.
The main problem is that where all the actors do a good job the film’s characters really need to show some more passion, particularly in regards to Dame Helen Mirren. She does give an admiral performance but she does not completely take over the screen like she should. She begins as a vengeful witch but her anger quickly dissipates. Of course since I am a novice in the realms of Shakespeare maybe there was an more subtle explanation for this.
If you are a fan of Shakespeare or of THE TEMPEST then please, go and watch it. If you are not then this is really not the film for you. THE TEMPEST is out today.
