PROSPERO'S BOOKS
A film review by Ken Johnson
Copyright 1992 Ken Johnson
125 min., R, Drama, 1991 Director: Peter Greenaway Cast: John Gielgud, Michael Clark, Isabelle Pasco, Michel Blanc, Erland Josephson, Tom Bell, Kenneth Cranham, Mark Rylance, Jim Vd Woude, Gerard Thoolen, Pierre Bokma
It's been two hours of silence, it's been two hours of pain, it's been two hours that are gone forever that I'll never have again! (with apologies to Guns N' Roses).
I am not really a fan of William Shakespeare. I have not *had* to read any of his plays yet (although I have heard that high school teachers are fond of his work so I expect I will have had to read some by the time I graduate). I have seen two of Shakespeare's plays on the screen, those being the 1990 version of HAMLET, which I gave a one, and the 1953 version of JULIUS CAESAR, which I gave a zero. PROSPERO'S BOOKS I give a zero (on a zero to five basis). I am obviously not the only person with that feeling towards this film though because at least six people walked out of the theater while the film was running (the first, ten minutes into the film). The reactions from some of the audience towards the film seemed to be the same as mine. My mother and my sister also went and saw the film. My mother is a fan of William Shakespeare's work and she didn't like the film at all. And my sister, who is age 14, almost fell asleep during the film. I am not saying that no one will like the film but it has a very limited audience. PROSPERO'S BOOKS is rated R for female nudity, male nudity, and adult situations.
William Shakespeare *did not* write PROSPERO'S BOOKS. William Shakespeare wrote THE TEMPEST. Someone else (sorry, I missed who wrote it) wrote PROSPERO'S BOOKS very loosely on THE TEMPEST. I feel that if William Shakespeare were alive today he would be disgusted with this film. William Shakespeare made THE TEMPEST as a comedy. This is definitely not a comedy, at least as far as I can tell. The film is supposed to be dream sequences, but it runs more like an LSD nightmare from hell. There are double images on the screen (sometimes triple) that seem to have nothing to do with each other. There is a lot of talk about Prospero's endless amount of books that does nothing for the film. In fact, most of Prospero's books are just plain boring, like the book of mirrors. THE TEMPEST is sort of followed but for those that have not yet read THE TEMPEST that will be lost. The words are jumbled together and it was hard for me to follow, and I know the plot line of THE TEMPEST. For this reason I suggest that if you plan to go see PROSPERO'S BOOKS that you first check out THE TEMPEST from your local library and read it.
There is a lot of nudity both male and female in the film, but it is not done in an erotic fashion. Most of the spirits wear little or no clothing. But they are just not clothed, it's not like it is a wild orgy or anything like that. There is only one sex scene in the film and it lasts only a fraction of a second. There is no bad language in the film (I am not counting the reactions of some of the audience to the film). In some parts of the film the dialogue is put in the corners of the screen, maybe so those who can't understand what the people are saying can read it. I would recommend not bringing your young children to the film for no other reason than they will be bored through the entire film. I don't think the film is worth hiring a babysitter for, so if you are a parent with children and you must see PROSPERO'S BOOKS, I would highly suggest renting PROSPERO'S BOOKS when it comes to video (if it does come to video) instead of seeing it in the theaters (plus it will save you the high costs of the theater).
I can't say anything really good about the costumes either. Most of the people in the film (the spirits) seemed to have a real lack of costumes. Whereas most of the others had costumes to the point of ridiculousness. The island seems to be a very dreary place to live, and if I were Prospero, and had his powers, I would simply conjure up a boat and get off that island. Most of the film takes place in a very dreary building. The building is sometimes like a castle with tapestries, columns, and elegant furniture and sometimes it is very plain. The most important part of this building seems to be a pool which seems to be for both swimming and urinating in (how gross huh?). There also seems to be a forest in this island, but it is not any forest that I would want to live in. It is very dark and gloomy (plus that strange Caliban lives in there).
I really hate to walk out from a movie without anything good to say about it, so here is the good aspects of PROSPERO'S BOOKS. The previews for the coming attractions was not bad at all (of course the previews will be different in your theater but I think it is safe to say that any preview will be better than this film). And Isabelle Pasco is rather pretty. I am sorry to say that I can't even talk about her acting abilities for she doesn't get a chance to show any off. For about the first half of the film Pasco is sleeping. That seems to be one of the main features in the film for the camera man keeps showing us many different angles. Also, she only gets to say a couple of words (was it four?) during the entire movie. This case seems to be true for most of the actors in the film. The only person who really has a speaking role was John Gielgud (and maybe the person who played Caliban). Most of the actors only get to mutter a few sentences, at best. I will stop here with my trashing of the film. I could probably go on forever but I don't wish to bore you.
One last comment, at the end of the film when Prospero throws a copy of THE TEMPEST into the pool, I think that might be symbolic of how Peter Greenaway threw out most of the charm from THE TEMPEST when making this film.
I am sorry but I really can't recommend PROSPERO'S BOOKS for anyone. My suggestion is to save your money and go see something else, anything else. The film KUFFS is a very good movie. Maybe you should go see that instead.
Ken J.
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