Trailer Tuesday: The Tempest

There was a period in the second half of the 1990s when big screen adaptations of William Shakespeare's plays were all the rage. Movies released in this period, just to mention a few, included Much Ado About Nothing, Romeo+Juliet, Richard III, Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Othello, Hamlet, Hamlet (again) and of course the teen flicks that maintained the Shakespearean stories but dumped the dialogue, 10 Things I Hate About You (based on The Taming of the Shrew) and O (based on Othello). Then the trend petered out... pretty much just as I finished high school and just as I had pretty much watched all of these as the result of encouragement from English teachers.

Anyway, the point is that it's been a while since a high profile Shakespearean adaptation has hit cinemas. That is soon going to be rectified, however, with the release of The Tempest - and you don't get much more high profile than this production. Helmed by Julie (Frida, Across The Universe, The Lion King on stage) Taymor, a rare director who actually deserves the "visionary" descriptor attached to her name, The Tempest stars Helen Mirren, Djimon Hounsou, David Strathairn, Russell Brand, Alfred Molina and Alan Cumming.


Alas, The Tempest is one of Shakespeare's plays I haven't studied or seen performed. I do know, however, that the production is notable for its deft genre blend of comedy, tragedy and the supernatural (magic and spiritual beings feature prominently), and the fact that along with being Shakespeare's last play, it's also his most "original" and unusual - in that it's more difficult to identify the literary sources he used when crafting the tale.

The plot of The Tempest centres on Prospero, the rightful ruler of Milan, who is usurped by his brother Antonio, forced into exile, and ends up stranded on a remote island with his daughter Miranda. The only other inhabitant on the island is a monstrous being, Caliban, who develops a love-hate relationship with the father-daughter pair over the course of 12 years. During this time, Prospero also becomes a powerful magician, and when he senses Antonio's ship is passing, Prospero harnesses the spirit Ariel to destroy the craft and scatter its crew on the island - so that he can finally have his revenge.


In Taymor's film adaptation, gender and post-colonial themes are brought to the forefront through some intriguing casting decisions. Prospero isn't just simply betrayed. This time he's a wronged woman, renamed Prospera and played by Helen Mirren - who has to step into a leadership role while shepherding her daughter to adulthood. Caliban, meanwhile, is given the savage primitive treatment and is played by the intense, physically imposing Djimon Hounsou. For the record, this isn't the first time The Tempest has been given a twist. One of the play's most famous film adaptations is the sci-fi classic Forbidden Planet.

Admittedly Taymor's films aren't for everyone - they tend to be eye melting mind-fucks, that aren't afraid of fine art visuals - but the thought of the director tackling Shakespeare again fills me with glee. Especially after her brutal but brilliant take on the little-seen, but very stylish revenge tragedy Titus Andronicus, starring Anthony Hopkins and Jessica Lange.

Mirren is, of course, also having an excellent, high profile year. Along with vocal work in Legend of the Guardians, and her performance as an ultra-polite retired assassin in the upcoming comic adaptation RED, this former Morgana Le Fay is really getting in the good books of fantasy lit geeks this year. Not at all bad for a 65 year old.

Taymor's The Tempest has popped up at a few of the big international film festivals, where unfortunately it hasn't quite lived up to its hype. Early reviews suggest that most of those involved in the project seem to be on auto-pilot (especially Mirren) and Taymor's creative genius seems to have failed her, as she settles for a surprisingly generic, uninspired interpretation. Such comments are admittedly worrying because I personally was really looking forward to this one.

The Tempest is set to open in the United States on 10 December. No release date has been set for South Africa although I expect the movie to hit our Cinema Nouveau art film circuit sometime before May 2011.