I'll Drown My Book
Jan. 27th, 2012 02:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
handful_ofdustSince sovay urged me to transfer it from Facebook, here's my brief run-down of Julie Taymor's The Tempest, which I watched last night: 75 per cent of a brilliant film, specially Helen Mirren (natch) and everything involving the Ariel (Ben Whishaw), who's fluidly sexed and beautiful in a very alien way. Unfortunately, the other 25 per cent involves all the stuff with the two drunk guys (Trinculo and Stephano) and Caliban. Since this is often the stuff I like least generally, I guess it makes sense, but it's so fucking egregious here, especially when juxtaposed with the amazing work from people like David Strathairn (the King of Naples) and Chris Cooper (Antonio). Doesn't help that Trinculo is Russell Brand, either.
Meanwhile, Caliban is Djimon Hounsou, so he's a very beautiful monster indeed, and doing really interesting physical/emotional stuff. But it's naturally also a bit queasy watching these two white ladies--Prospera and Miranda (Felicity Jones), who's actually fine, though her Ferdinand (Reeve Carney) is incredibly boring--call him "slave" every five seconds. Mirren does have at least a couple of moments where she gets across that she feels she treated him badly overall, though--that his nature's failure to respond to her nurture may, just may, have been because there's a part of her that can never love him simply because of who he is: Sycorax's son, not Ariel, not Miranda.
(Add to this the overt parallel that Taymor's re-write makes between Prospera--who states outright that her magic is more alchemy, more science, not in any way like the magic that gets less elevated ladies burnt alive--and Sycorax, the very template of a "wicked witch", whose magic must've been at least as "rough" as the magic Prospera strips herself of by the end, so that she can go back to the more civilized climes of Milan and spend every third thought on her grave. I would've loved to seeSycorax, at least once, in flashback.)
You know what else would've been good? To see Caliban watching them sail away, king of his island once more. But Taymor chooses to end on Prospera breaking her staff, because really, she doesn't care all that much about anybody else. I understand, but I'm not sure I approve.
Meanwhile, Caliban is Djimon Hounsou, so he's a very beautiful monster indeed, and doing really interesting physical/emotional stuff. But it's naturally also a bit queasy watching these two white ladies--Prospera and Miranda (Felicity Jones), who's actually fine, though her Ferdinand (Reeve Carney) is incredibly boring--call him "slave" every five seconds. Mirren does have at least a couple of moments where she gets across that she feels she treated him badly overall, though--that his nature's failure to respond to her nurture may, just may, have been because there's a part of her that can never love him simply because of who he is: Sycorax's son, not Ariel, not Miranda.
(Add to this the overt parallel that Taymor's re-write makes between Prospera--who states outright that her magic is more alchemy, more science, not in any way like the magic that gets less elevated ladies burnt alive--and Sycorax, the very template of a "wicked witch", whose magic must've been at least as "rough" as the magic Prospera strips herself of by the end, so that she can go back to the more civilized climes of Milan and spend every third thought on her grave. I would've loved to seeSycorax, at least once, in flashback.)
You know what else would've been good? To see Caliban watching them sail away, king of his island once more. But Taymor chooses to end on Prospera breaking her staff, because really, she doesn't care all that much about anybody else. I understand, but I'm not sure I approve.
