Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Two Months to Taymor's Tempest

Tempest. Dir. Julie Taymor. Perf. Helen Mirren, Russell Brand, Alfred Molina, Djimon Hounsou, David Strathairn, Chris Cooper, Alan Cumming, Ben Whishaw, Reeve Carney, Felicity Jones, and Tom Conti. Chartoff Productions, 2010. 10 December 2010.
The theatrical release date for Julie Taymor's Tempest has been announced. Reserve the tenth of December; expect a visual feast.

After nearly falling between the cracks with Miramax's closure, the film has made a strong showing at the Venice and New York Film Festivals. A goodly part—perhaps even the majority—of its appeal comes from Taymor's astonishing visual style. Observe, for example, the costume and makeup for Djimon Hounsou, Taymor's Caliban:


Observe, too, the trailer for the film:


Finally, note the slight equivocation in the description of the play on which this film is based:

Shakespeare's Final Masterpiece

It's not the last play Shakespeare had a hand in writing, so "Shakespeare's Farewell to the Stage" would be erroneous. To consider it as his last really marvelous play, however, seems to have a powerful draw while observing Truth in Advertising statutes.

We eagerly await what is sure to be an extraordinary visual experience.
Note: This post was updated on 13 July 2011—two months before the DVD release of Taymor's Tempest. Pre-order the DVD with the link below!


Click below to purchase the film from amazon.com
[It's now available!]
(and to support Bardfilm as you do so).


Permanent trailer available below (in case the trailer above expires):

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Bardfilm is normally written as one word, though it can also be found under a search for "Bard Film Blog." Bardfilm is a Shakespeare blog (admittedly, one of many Shakespeare blogs), and it is dedicated to commentary on films (Shakespeare movies, The Shakespeare Movie, Shakespeare on television, Shakespeare at the cinema), plays, and other matter related to Shakespeare (allusions to Shakespeare in pop culture, quotes from Shakespeare in popular culture, quotations that come from Shakespeare, et cetera).

Unless otherwise indicated, quotations from Shakespeare's works are from the following edition:
Shakespeare, William. The Riverside Shakespeare. 2nd ed. Gen. ed. G. Blakemore Evans. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1997.
All material original to this blog is copyrighted: Copyright 2008-2039 (and into perpetuity thereafter) by Keith Jones.

The very instant that I saw you did / My heart fly to your service; there resides, / To make me slave to it; and, for your sake, / Am I this patient [b]log-man.

 —The Tempest