Strong and Moving!

Lack of good storyline.

There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Recently, I watched, and loved, the seven BBC adaptations of Shakespeare's plays about the Wars of the Roses. By contrast, this film of 'The Tempest' is poor fayre. Partly it's because of actors who seem ill-equipped for speaking Shakespearian lines: Russell Brand is the most obvious target, though the truth is that several cast members seems almost equally bad (Helen Mirren, though, and Alfred Mollina, are predictably good). Perhaps it's because of the film's arbitrary and inconsistent use of special effects and it's back-and-forwards transitioning between Tudor orthodoxy and a more modern staging: both approaches can work with Shakespeare, but this one just seems a mess. But maybe the bard too deserves some stick: there are some famous lines ("Oh brave new world, that has such people in it!") but the plot is pretty simple: Prospero (or, in this re-gendered version, Prospera) gets her revenge on her enemies through the deployment of supernatural devices: her hapless foes never stand a chance. Shakespeare's customary tendency to punch down with his humour is also on display: for all his literary brilliance, a lot of Shakespearian comedy takes the form of, in effect, chav jokes. Maybe there's something more in the script that got lost in adaptation. But this really isn't the bard at his best.

Julie Taymor re-imagines Shakespeare's The Tempest but I am not sure that despite the visual imagery it has been made any more accessible.Helen Mirren takes centre stage and Prospero from the original text becomes Prospera the wronged wife of the Duke of Milan, accused of witchcraft and exiled with her baby daughter as her brother takes over the dukedom.The ship she is in ends up in a remote island. She raises her daughter Miranda and enters a power struggle with the human beast Caliban who she has enslaved and wrested control of the spirit Ariel.Some years later Propsera gets the chance for vengeance as Ariel causes a tempest wrecking the ship that carries the people who wronged Prospera to the island.Helen Mirren is great as Prospera and delights in reading text reserved for a male actor. The visuals are sumptuous, we see Ben Wishaw flying about as Ariel. Djimon Hounsou is imposing as Caliban waiting for a chance to gets his own revenge on Prospera.The film never really grabs you by the lapels and hence you find yourself wandering off. Russell Brand as the jester is a misfire, you think he is just playing himself and feels rather off when the actors are putting more efforts in their respective parts.A noble attempt to bring a difficult play on to the screen but not successfully done. The switch of the main role from male to female was never an issue for me and the tweaking of the adaptation was a bold move that did pay off.

From the very start, I could not follow this movie. It just happened to be on, and while I did tape it, I had to watch everything because too much stuff would have to be deleted quickly otherwise.Rewinding didn't help. I couldn't follow the ancient dialogue. I just had to do my best and hope I could figure out what was going on.I finally concluded that Helen Mirren was playing some kind of witch and the pretty girl was her daughter.The shipwrecked men were rescued in a miraculous way--not even getting their clothes wet.The naked spirit worked for Mirren's character. The weird-looking black man was some kind of servant.I finally found something I could enjoy as Stephano and Trinculo showed up. There was something modern about these drunk morons, Even some of their clothes looked modern, and I couldn't help but wonder if Shakespeare had really written their dialogue. If so, he really was a genius. And because he loved the liquor they gave him, the man-fish I later found out was Caliban wanted to meet their every need. Somehow these drunk idiots seemed out of place in Shakespeare, even turning the magnificent Caliban into a moron, but they worked for me.The romance involving the daughter didn't do much for me.Mirren's performance, whether it meant anything to me, was nothing less than magnificent. Powerful at times, gentle at others, alternating between cruel and forgiving.Djimon Hounsou also gave a powerful performance, though he could be funny too. Once he ended up with the two jokers, I couldn't help but think something was lacking in his style. But he was making me happy for a change, so I can't fault him.One thing I really didn't care for was the music. Some of it was rock, and some of it was just plain weird. None of it existed in Shakespeare's time, but I guess if they couldn't make the dialogue modern, they could do it with the music.Whether I liked it or not, it was mostly a worthy effort.

To give a review about any Shakespearian adaptation, we must begin with the faithfulness of the movie.This movie is completely faithful to the play and has all the major points of the plot. The dialogue is also Shakespearian and again faithful (except the parts that have to be changed because of "Prospera"). All in all, this movie conveys the spirit of Shakespeare's play.And I loved the comic scenes with Trinculo, "King" Stephano :D and Caliban. They really made me laugh in a scene when the third meets the first two.The only flaw is what all of us know. Why should Prospero become Prospera???!!! That is the question that can't be answered easily. That may be because the director is a woman and wants to show "Female Authority" (a term used frequently in Feminist texts). Because of this change of gender, some dialogues have to be changed too. And of course the mother/daughter relation is different from Father/daughter. That is, I believe, the only flaw in this movie (making my score 8 rather than 10).Other than this, everything is perfect.My Score: 8/10