Prospero's Books
Shown: 5 February 2001
UK 1991
127 minutes
Directed by Peter Greenaway
Leading players - John Gielgud, Michael Clark and Isabelle Pasco
Synopsis
Prospero (Sir John Gielgud), once duke of Milan, has been exiled onto a lost island, along with his daughter, Miranda (Isabelle Pasco). Under his magical control are resident sprites and monsters, notably Caliban (Michael Clark). When his enemies are shipwrecked on the island, Prospero sees his chance for revenge. In the film, unlike The Tempest, Prospero's magical power derives from the 24 books he has with him and Greenaway structures the film around their subject matter: water, cosmology, pornography, architecture, hell, music, etc. Their typography, calligraphy and illustrations are photographed in voluptuous detail.
As Gielgud takes centre screen, inventing and speaking the lines for all the other characters, pages of books appear over the central image or slide in from the sides, sometimes two or three deep, pausing for our consideration, and then vanishing to be replaced by yet more images. As ever with Greenaway the screen is bombarded with images and new cinematic territory is explored via the use of high-definition video. The locations are dazzling (despite being shot entirely indoors) and the sheer volume of naked flesh on display almost surreal. This is not the film to see if you want to witness a performance of The Tempest. It is, however, a fascinating film if you are interested in the play or just in seeing a master filmmaker explore his art.
