THE TEMPEST

The Tempest is basically a bunch of people stranded on a big rock, being angry and/or crazy at each other—bringing up the deep dark past—while two pretty young people swoon.

Now, I loved the idea of Helen Mirren doing Shakespeare. Even more so, I loved her taking on what is traditionally a male role. And Julie Taymor directing? She is kind of a hot mess, but her movies are always fantastic looking, to say the least. Too bad The Tempest is, well, kind of a bore.

Now, I am (you will quickly find) no Shakepeare scholar. The kind of Shakespeare that I tend to understand is when there is lots of shouting and gesturing (like in Mel Gibson's Hamlet), or there is a lot of pretty too look at (like all the bodices and black leather pants in Much Ado About Nothing). The Tempest is basically a bunch of people stranded on a big rock, being angry and/or crazy at each other, bringing up the deep dark past, while two pretty young people swoon at each other.

Prospera (Mirren) was cast out and set adrift with her infant daughter many many years ago, booted from her rightful Duke-dom by her brother Antonio (Chris Cooper) after being accused of being a witch. She has been stewing for many years, exiled on an island, waiting to wreak revenge while wearing fantastic capes and wielding her lightning-shooting staff. When Antonio's ship comes near, she creates a tempest to shipwreck him and his men, forcing them to the island where she will eventually face off with them, once and for all.

Basically, I had a hard time figuring out how people were related to each other, partly because I had a hard time being interested, and, well, I kept dozing off because of that. What I took away from The Tempest was this: 1) Julie Taymor still makes fantastic-looking movies, and always gets a great cast. 2) Most of the time, I don't really understand Shakespeare. 3) Russell Brand is a bizarrely compelling comic actor, even if he seemed like he was in a different movie.

In the end, the only character I really found compelling, in the end, was Prospera's sidekick sprite Ariel (Ben Wishaw), an earnest, androgynous, magical troublemaker that was at Prospera's beck and call. By Prospera's command, Ariel could destroy a ship with fire, or lure sailors with song, or cause lightning to flash across the sky. He (she?) was always fun to watch, which is more than I could really say about the rest of the movie.

BLU-RAY NOTES

The Tempest is one of those films that totally benefits from the extras. By the time I listened to some of the commentaries and watched some extras, I found that I liked the film more (or at least respected it more). There is an excellent commentary by Shakespeare experts Virginia Vaughan and Jonathan Bate, which almost made me appreciate that The Tempest was an interesting story. Plus, there is an extremely goofy short of Russell Brand riffing (non-stop, with nary a breath for 5 minutes) about his character Trinculo, which is just about more entertaining than anything else in the film. There is also a commentary by director Julie Taymor, a making-of featurette, and a music video of “O Mistress Mine” by Reeve Carney.