| Prospero's Books | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | Peter Greenaway |
| Written by | Peter Greenaway |
| Produced by | Masato Hara Kees Kasander Katsufumi Nakamura Yoshinobu Namano Denis Wigman Roland Wigman |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Sacha Vierny |
| Edited by | Marina Bodbijl |
| Music by | Michael Nyman |
| Distributed by | Palace Pictures |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 129 minutes |
| Countries | United Kingdom Netherlands France Italy Japan |
| Language | English |
| Budget | £1,500,000 or £2.4 million[1] |
| Box office | £1.6 million (UK/US) |
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. About a tenth of the movie was made on Japanese high definition television (HDTV).[3] Edited in Japan, it makes extensive use of digital image manipulation (using Hi-Vision video inserts and the Quantel Paintbox system),[4] 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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ Conrad, Peter (17 November 1991). "From a Vigorous Prospero, A Farewell Without Tears". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
- ^ Review: The new tricks of the trade
- ^ Peter Greenaway Is Expert at Creating Film Tempests : Movies: After the uproar over his 'The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover,' the director mixes technologies to create 'Prospero's Books'