Prospero's Books [1991] | ![Prospero's Books [1991]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51KGN6EZVML._SL160_.jpg)
 enlarge | Director: Peter Greenaway
Actors: John Gielgud, Michael Clark, Michel Blanc, Erland Josephson, Isabelle Pasco
Studio: 4 Front Video
Category: Video
Buy Used: £13.99
Used (4) Collectible (2) from £13.99
Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 72
Format: Dolby, Pal, Surround Sound
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Media: VHS Tape
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 120
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 4.2 x 1.1
UPC: 440051804354
EAN: 0044005180435
ASIN: B00004R6I0
Theatrical Release Date: 1991
Release Date: April 12, 1999
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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spirited January 10, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I must admit I don't like Greenaway as a rule, and I find Prospero one of Shakespeare's least appealing characters. But this film is quite extraordinary in all sorts of respects. Nyman's music is fantastic, and used here to good effect (Nyman didn't think so, and broke up with Greenaway as a result, but that's his problem). Ditto Sarah Leonard's singing. An ancient Gielgud is splendid as Prospero. Michael Clark's performance as Caliban has to be seen to be believed. The visuals are unlike anything else you have ever seen. (What sort of casting agency can come up with about 100 people aged from about 5 to about 80, all naked for all of the time? Perhaps they are the members of a naturist club? They play the "spirits" of the island.) The idea of focusing on the Books is original, and developed to good effect. If this film has a weak point, it is Miranda. Isabelle Pasco's acting is wooden (maybe we're spoilt by Toyah Wilcox's performance in Jarman's Tempest film).
Why no DVD? One of the mysteries of modern life.
Incidentally there is a "book of the film" consisting of photos of the cast mostly "off-stage". It's called Prospero's Subjects, was published in Japan and is almost impossible to get hold of. But worth trying.
 One of a kind: Peter Greenaway's mesmerizing images combined with 86-year-old John Gielgud speaking November 8, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Prospero's Books is nothing less than an almost overwhelming feast of images, stuffed with charms, magic and metaphors. It is Peter Greenaway's vision of what The Tempest might have been had Prospero used those 24 books of great knowledge and magic he took with him when he was sent into exile by his brother. Prospero had been the Duke of Milan when he was overthrown. Twelve years later he inhabits an island with his daughter, Miranda, who was three when they were sent away. There is Caliban, of course, a "freckled whelp, hag-born," but all the other inhabitants are sprites and spirits. And now Prospero, delving into his books and writing his story, imagines his revenge. The first of his books is The Book of Water, a tome of parchment pages that bring rain and mist and dripping tears. As Prospero lies in a pool and writes, his captured sprite, the child Ariel, urinates spell-like into the calm water, and we see Prospero's tale of a vast tempest that brings to the shore of his island his enemies, and the son of one of them. As Prospero writes we see the books and the images from them...The Book of Mirrors, The Book of Colours, The Atlas Belonging to Orpheus, A Primer of Small Stars, The Book of Utopias, The Book of Love..."drawings of a naked man and a naked woman. Everything else is conjecture." From these books we flow into Prospero's magic world of revenge, as he takes the knowledge of his books to add layers to his plans and his story. Yet when Miranda spies young Ferdinand she falls immediately in love. Having only known her father and the scabrous Caliban, Ferdinand is the most beautiful creature she has ever seen. "O, wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world that has such people in't!" she cries. Prospero cannot deny his daughter, yet he knows this all is just a story that he is writing...or is it? Even as Ferdinand and his daughter pledge their love, he says...
"Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits, and
Are melted into air, into thin air:
And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve,
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on; and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep."
But not quite. Eventually, with the prodding from the several Ariels (a child, an adolescent, a young man) to whom Prospero keeps promising freedom, Prospero forgives his enemies and destroys his books. He is no less wise for all this.
For over two hours Greenaway gives us images that float and mix, that overlay page upon moving page. John Gielgud, at 86, plays Prospero and speaks the words Prospero writes for all the characters. Around him are magical creatures that dance and run, sing and fall, who serve him and follow his commands. These creatures, male and female, young and old, are nude. Shoulders, hips, breasts, arms become as much an ingredient in the movie as the settings and exaggerated costumes. There are many times when the screen moves with jiggling male and female parts, but there also is an almost pagan naturalness that is neither carnal nor innocent. Greenaway sets up endless detailed images that are part Renaissance paintings, part dream settings and part tableaux. The camera rarely rests, but constantly moves through rooms and forests. The effect is just about overwhelming. There is a reason that, in the middle of a fine, rich dinner a small scoop of sherbet is served. It lets us pause and ready our palate for the next course. We don't have that luxury with Prospero's Books, and in the middle of the movie I was longing for a rest. That's a small complaint for a movie which offers so much to the eye and the mind.
The combination of Greenaway's vision and Gielgud's skill (and voice) is hard to overpraise. Although 86 when he filmed the movie, Gielgud projects that famous voice with subtlety, skill and, when needed, power. When he speaks the words Prospero has written for his daughter or for Ferdinand, he still sounds like Gielgud but he is so skilled he can differentiate between male and female, young and old. He gives a performance of real depth, and it's gratifying to see this great actor in such a rich and demanding part this late in his career.
Prospero's Books can be tracked down on VHS tape, but it cries out for a full-fledged and carefully restored DVD release. For those who like idiosyncratic works, I recommend Greenaway's The Draughtsman's Contract and The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover. As for Prospero's Books...it simply is what it is.
A remarkable film of great depth and imagination. December 17, 2004
19 out of 19 found this review helpful
It may be useful to keep in mind the following story, possibly apocryphal, when discussing Prospero's Books: a famous practitioner of Far Eastern music was being entertained in Europe and was taken to a concert featuring the music of a Baroque master. Afterwards he was asked how he enjoyed the music. He replied that it was nothing but childish drivel. If you enjoy Shakespeare, "art", "film-making", music, dance, visual spectacle, and originality, then you will likely enjoy this film at some level. Although difficult to find, Noel Cobb's book Prospero's Island will add greatly to your enjoyment since it contains a very lucid explication of the psychology of The Tempest on which Prospero's Books is based. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the director, Peter Greenaway, read this book as part of the preparation for this film. I would also like to issue the following challenge: try to detect even one individual among the dozens of actors, extras and dancers in Prospero's Books who does not appear to be completely immersed in the creation of this remarkable film.
 I was glued to my seat... November 5, 2002
12 out of 52 found this review helpful
....which is a real shame, because otherwise I would have left the cinema after 30 minutes of this film!Being a semi-fan of Greenaway, I realised that it was actually the music of Michael Nyman that I was more interested in, and Nyman's music is one of only a handful of good points about this picture. For someone with a somewhat sketchy knowledge of 'The Tempest', the play upon which this film is based, I really didn't stand a chance of following what was supposed to be going on. Evidently, Greenaway was far more interested in producing a visual masterpiece (which he achieves, admittedly), more like a moving painting than a film. That is all well and good, but how many paintings can you sit and look at for two solid hours? Greenaway was also clearly allowing 'Sir John' his chance at playing Prospero, which he does well, but taken in the context of this movie as a whole, even he manages to come across as a bit of an old buffoon (see picture above!) who is indulging himself more than trying to have a serious go at producing a worthwhile, lasting piece of film. What a pity that Greenaway's obvious skill at film-making, Sir John Gielgud's acting ability, and Nyman's wonderful music should be squandered in such a way.
Magical interpretation misses widescreen September 25, 2000
28 out of 30 found this review helpful
Prospero's Book's is for me the height of Peter Greenaways'skills. Shakespeare's 'Tempest' transformed into a truely mystical and magical world as it should be in the most picturesque way. Using film to it's fully potential with insent boxes, etc. You wonder sometimes which film you should be watching. Gielgud's performance enhances the magical qualities by giving us a Merlinesque portrayal of Prospero as a man whose already capable powers as Duke of Milan are enhanced by the fabulous and fantastic books that have been sent with him to his fair Isle. The desciptions of which provide entertaining and often humourous interludes to the build up of the well known text of the story and perhaps our book The Tempest. A must see, again and again. Four stars only though as without a widescreen version too much is missing.
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