Prospero's Books is a 1991 British avant-garde film adaptation of William Shakespeare's The Tempest, written and directed by Peter Greenaway. Sir John Gielgud plays Prospero, the protagonist who provides the off-screen narration and the voices to the other story characters. As noted by Peter Conrad in The New York Times on 17 November 1991, Greenaway intended the film “as an homage to the actor and to his 'mastery of illusion.' In the film, Prospero is Shakespeare, and having rehearsed the action inside his head, speaking the lines of all the other characters, he concludes the film by sitting down to write The Tempest.” [2]
Stylistically, Prospero's Books is narratively and cinematically innovative in its techniques, combining mime, dance, opera, and animation. Edited in Japan, the film makes extensive use of digital image manipulation (using Hi-Vision video inserts and the Quantel Paintbox system), often overlaying multiple moving and still pictures with animations. Michael Nyman composed the musical score and Karine Saporta choreographed the dance. The film is also notable for its extensive use of nudity, reminiscent of Renaissance paintings of mythological characters. The nude actors and extras represent a cross-section of male and female humanity.
Prospero's Books is a complex tale based upon William Shakespeare's The Tempest. Miranda, the daughter of Prospero, an exiled magician, falls in love with Ferdinand, the son of his enemy; while the sorcerer's sprite, Ariel, convinces him to abandon revenge against the traitors from his earlier life. In the film, Prospero is Shakespeare himself, conceiving, designing, rehearsing, directing and performing the story's action as it unfolds and in the end, sitting down to write the completed work.
Ariel is played by four actors: three acrobats—a boy, an adolescent, and a youth—and a boy singer. Each represents a classical elemental.[citation needed]
The Booksedit
The books of Prospero number 24, according to the production design, which outlines each volume's content. The list is reminiscent of the lost books of Epicurus.[3]
Gielgud is quoted as saying that a film of The Tempest (with him as Prospero) was his life's ambition, as he had been in four stage productions in 1931, 1940, 1957, and 1974. He had approached Alain Resnais, Ingmar Bergman, Akira Kurosawa, and Orson Welles about directing him in it, with Benjamin Britten to compose its score, and Albert Finney as Caliban, before Greenaway agreed. The closest earlier attempts came to being made was in 1967, with Welles both directing and playing Caliban. But after the commercial failure of their film collaboration, Chimes at Midnight, financing for a cinematic Tempest collapsed.[4]
"I don't know whether Greenaway ever saw me in it on stage, I didn't dare to ask him," Sir John told Conrad,[2] who noted that the actor recalls his previous Prosperos in the book Shakespeare -- Hit or Miss?: “At the Old Vic in the 1930s he played the character as 'Dante without a beard'; in 1957 for Peter Brook he was 'an El Greco hermit', disheveled and decrepit; in 1974 for Peter Hall he was a bespectacled magus; now, for Mr. Greenaway, in a film that is a blitz of cultural icons, he is Renaissance man, exercising a universal power through the volumes in his library but confounded by his own sorry mortality.”[2]
“I was glad I knew the part so well, because there was so much going on in the studio to distract me,” Sir John recalled, “I had to parade up and down wearing that cloak which needed four people to lift, and with papers flying in my face all the time. And it was terribly cold in the bath." Sir John spent four frigid days during the winter naked in a swimming pool, to choreograph the shipwreck with which the film begins.[2]
In his 17 November 1991 article for The New York Times, Peter Conrad observed “…the performance is also a revelation of Sir John himself: simultaneously noble and naughty, a high priest and a joker, contemplating at the end of a long life the value of the art he practices.”[2]
Aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports a 62% approval of Prospero's Books, with an average rating of 5.9/10 from 26 reviews and a critical consensus that reads: "There is no middle ground for viewers of Peter Greenaway's work, but for his fans, Prospero's Books is reliably daring."[6]Roger Ebert gave the work three stars out of four and argued, "Most of the reviews of this film have missed the point; this is not a narrative, it need not make sense, and it is not 'too difficult' because it could not have been any less so. It is simply a work of original art, which Greenaway asks us to accept or reject on his own terms."[7]
Box officeedit
The film grossed £579,487 at the UK box office.[1] In the United States and Canada, where it was distributed by Miramax Films, it grossed $1.75 million (£1 million).[8]
Soundtrackedit
This was the last of the collaborations between director Peter Greenaway and composer Michael Nyman. Most of the film's music cues, (excepting Ariel's songs and the Masque) are from an earlier concert, La Traversée de Paris and the score from A Zed & Two Noughts. The soundtrack album is Nyman's sixteenth release.
^ ab"Back to the Future: The Fall and Rise of the British Film Industry in the 1980s - An Information Briefing" (PDF). British Film Institute. 2005. p. 28.
^ abcdeConrad, Peter (17 November 1991). "From a Vigorous Prospero, A Farewell Without Tears". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
^Prospero's Books: A Film of the Shakespeare's The Tempest, Peter Greenaway, Four Walls Eight Windows (October 1991)
^Sir John Gielgud: A Life in Letters, Arcade Publishing (2004)
^"Festival de Cannes: Prospero's Books". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 12 August 2009.
^"Prospero's Books (1991)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
^Ebert, Roger (27 November 1991). "Prospero's Books Movie Review (1991)". Retrieved 27 January 2017.
prospero, books, 1991, british, avant, garde, film, adaptation, william, shakespeare, tempest, written, directed, peter, greenaway, john, gielgud, plays, prospero, protagonist, provides, screen, narration, voices, other, story, characters, noted, peter, conrad. Prospero s Books is a 1991 British avant garde film adaptation of William Shakespeare s The Tempest written and directed by Peter Greenaway Sir John Gielgud plays Prospero the protagonist who provides the off screen narration and the voices to the other story characters As noted by Peter Conrad in The New York Times on 17 November 1991 Greenaway intended the film as an homage to the actor and to his mastery of illusion In the film Prospero is Shakespeare and having rehearsed the action inside his head speaking the lines of all the other characters he concludes the film by sitting down to write The Tempest 2 Prospero s BooksTheatrical posterDirected byPeter GreenawayWritten byPeter GreenawayProduced byMasato HaraKees KasanderKatsufumi NakamuraYoshinobu NamanoDenis WigmanRoland WigmanStarringJohn Gielgud Michael Clark Isabelle Pasco Michel Blanc Erland Josephson Tom Bell Kenneth Cranham Mark Rylance Jim VD Woude Gerard Thoolen Pierre BokmaCinematographySacha ViernyEdited byMarina BodbijlMusic byMichael NymanDistributed byPalace PicturesRelease dates30 August 1991 1991 08 30 United Kingdom 15 November 1991 1991 11 15 United States limited 6 December 1991 1991 12 06 Australia Running time129 minutesCountriesUnited KingdomNetherlandsFranceItalyJapanLanguageEnglishBudget 1 500 000 or 2 4 million 1 Box office 1 6 million UK US Stylistically Prospero s Books is narratively and cinematically innovative in its techniques combining mime dance opera and animation Edited in Japan the film makes extensive use of digital image manipulation using Hi Vision video inserts and the Quantel Paintbox system often overlaying multiple moving and still pictures with animations Michael Nyman composed the musical score and Karine Saporta choreographed the dance The film is also notable for its extensive use of nudity reminiscent of Renaissance paintings of mythological characters The nude actors and extras represent a cross section of male and female humanity Contents 1 Plot 2 The Books 3 Cast 4 Production and financing 5 Reception 5 1 Box office 6 Soundtrack 6 1 Track listing 6 2 Performers 6 3 Michael Nyman Band 6 4 Technical 7 References 8 External linksPlot editProspero s Books is a complex tale based upon William Shakespeare s The Tempest Miranda the daughter of Prospero an exiled magician falls in love with Ferdinand the son of his enemy while the sorcerer s sprite Ariel convinces him to abandon revenge against the traitors from his earlier life In the film Prospero is Shakespeare himself conceiving designing rehearsing directing and performing the story s action as it unfolds and in the end sitting down to write the completed work Ariel is played by four actors three acrobats a boy an adolescent and a youth and a boy singer Each represents a classical elemental citation needed The Books editThe books of Prospero number 24 according to the production design which outlines each volume s content The list is reminiscent of the lost books of Epicurus 3 A Book of Water A Book of Mirrors A Book of Mythologies A Primer of the Small Stars An Atlas Belonging to Orpheus A Harsh Book of Geometry The Book of Colours The Vesalius Anatomy of Birth An Alphabetical Inventory of the Dead A Book of Travellers Tales The Book of the Earth A Book of Architecture and Other Music The Ninety Two Conceits of the Minotaur The Book of Languages End plants A Book of Love A Bestiary of Past Present and Future Animals The Book of Utopias The Book of Universal Cosmography Lore of Ruins The Autobiographies of Pasiphae and Semiramis A Book of Motion The Book of Games Thirty Six PlaysCast editSir John Gielgud as Prospero Michael Clark as Caliban Michel Blanc as Alonso Erland Josephson as Gonzalo Isabelle Pasco as Miranda Tom Bell as Antonio Kenneth Cranham as Sebastian Mark Rylance as Ferdinand Gerard Thoolen as Adrian Pierre Bokma as Francisco Jim van der Woude as Trinculo Michiel Romeyn as Stephano Paul Russell as Ariel James Thierree as ArielProduction and financing editGielgud is quoted as saying that a film of The Tempest with him as Prospero was his life s ambition as he had been in four stage productions in 1931 1940 1957 and 1974 He had approached Alain Resnais Ingmar Bergman Akira Kurosawa and Orson Welles about directing him in it with Benjamin Britten to compose its score and Albert Finney as Caliban before Greenaway agreed The closest earlier attempts came to being made was in 1967 with Welles both directing and playing Caliban But after the commercial failure of their film collaboration Chimes at Midnight financing for a cinematic Tempest collapsed 4 I don t know whether Greenaway ever saw me in it on stage I didn t dare to ask him Sir John told Conrad 2 who noted that the actor recalls his previous Prosperos in the book Shakespeare Hit or Miss At the Old Vic in the 1930s he played the character as Dante without a beard in 1957 for Peter Brook he was an El Greco hermit disheveled and decrepit in 1974 for Peter Hall he was a bespectacled magus now for Mr Greenaway in a film that is a blitz of cultural icons he is Renaissance man exercising a universal power through the volumes in his library but confounded by his own sorry mortality 2 I was glad I knew the part so well because there was so much going on in the studio to distract me Sir John recalled I had to parade up and down wearing that cloak which needed four people to lift and with papers flying in my face all the time And it was terribly cold in the bath Sir John spent four frigid days during the winter naked in a swimming pool to choreograph the shipwreck with which the film begins 2 The film was screened out of competition at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival 5 Reception editIn his 17 November 1991 article for The New York Times Peter Conrad observed the performance is also a revelation of Sir John himself simultaneously noble and naughty a high priest and a joker contemplating at the end of a long life the value of the art he practices 2 Aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports a 62 approval of Prospero s Books with an average rating of 5 9 10 from 26 reviews and a critical consensus that reads There is no middle ground for viewers of Peter Greenaway s work but for his fans Prospero s Books is reliably daring 6 Roger Ebert gave the work three stars out of four and argued Most of the reviews of this film have missed the point this is not a narrative it need not make sense and it is not too difficult because it could not have been any less so It is simply a work of original art which Greenaway asks us to accept or reject on his own terms 7 Box office edit The film grossed 579 487 at the UK box office 1 In the United States and Canada where it was distributed by Miramax Films it grossed 1 75 million 1 million 8 Soundtrack editThis was the last of the collaborations between director Peter Greenaway and composer Michael Nyman Most of the film s music cues excepting Ariel s songs and the Masque are from an earlier concert La Traversee de Paris and the score from A Zed amp Two Noughts The soundtrack album is Nyman s sixteenth release Track listing edit Full fathom five 1 58 Prospero s curse 2 38 While you here do snoring lie 1 06 Prospero s Magic 5 11 Miranda 3 54 Twelve years since 2 45 Come unto these yellow sands 3 44 History of Sycorax 3 25 Come and go 1 16 Cornfield 6 26 Where the bee sucks 4 48 Caliban s pit 2 56 Reconciliation 2 31 THE MASQUE 12 12 Performers edit Sarah Leonard Ariel Marie Angel Iris Ute Lemper Ceres Deborah Conway Juno Michael Nyman Band edit Alexander Balanescu violin Jonathan Carney violin viola Elisabeth Perry violin Clare Connors violin Kate Musker viola Tony Hinnigan cello Justin Pearson cello Paul Morgan double bass Tim Amhurst double bass Lynda Houghton double bass Martin Elliott bass guitar David Rix clarinet bass clarinet John Harle soprano amp alto saxophone David Roach soprano amp alto saxophone Jamie Talbot soprano amp alto saxophone Andrew Findon tenor amp baritone saxophone piccolo flute Graham Ashton trumpet Richard Clews horn Marjorie Dunn horn Nigel Barr bass trombone Steve Saunders bass trombone Michael Nyman piano amp musical direction Prospero s Books nbsp Photos by Marc GuillaumontDesign Creative PartnershipSoundtrack album by Michael NymanReleased12 November 1991 1991 11 12 RecordedPRT Studios and Abbey Road Studios LondonGenreSoundtrack Contemporary classical art song Minimalist musicLength54 58LanguageEnglishLabelLondonArgoProducerDavid CunninghamMichael Nyman chronologyString Quartets 1 3 1991 Prospero s Books 1991 The Michael Nyman Songbook 1992 Professional ratingsReview scoresSourceRatingAllmusic nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp linkTechnical edit Produced by David Cunningham Engineer Michael J Dutton Assistant engineer Dillon Gallagher PRT Chris Brown Abbey Road Studios Mixed by Michael J Dutton Michael Nyman and David Cunningham at PRT Studios and Abbey Road Studios Edited at Abbey Road Studios by Peter Mew Art Direction Ann Bradbeer Photography Marc Guillamot Design Creative Partnership Artist representative Don MousseauReferences edit a b Back to the Future The Fall and Rise of the British Film Industry in the 1980s An Information Briefing PDF British Film Institute 2005 p 28 a b c d e Conrad Peter 17 November 1991 From a Vigorous Prospero A Farewell Without Tears The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved 7 August 2021 Prospero s Books A Film of the Shakespeare s The Tempest Peter Greenaway Four Walls Eight Windows October 1991 Sir John Gielgud A Life in Letters Arcade Publishing 2004 Festival de Cannes Prospero s Books festival cannes com Retrieved 12 August 2009 Prospero s Books 1991 Rotten Tomatoes Retrieved 13 May 2023 Ebert Roger 27 November 1991 Prospero s Books Movie Review 1991 Retrieved 27 January 2017 Prospero s Books at Box Office MojoExternal links editProspero s Books at IMDb Prospero s Books at AllMovie Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Prospero 27s Books amp oldid 1171943590, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
