Welcome back to White Rose of Avalon, my Darlings. For today’s Mermaid Monday post, I want to discuss the very watery and Island-set film adaptation of Shakespeare’s final play, The Tempest, from 2010, directed by Julie Taymor. Now, this is a film that I had always wanted to see, given my love for the play and appreciation of Helen Mirren (who plays the lead in this film). You see, The Tempest is special to me for a couple of reasons. Firstly, my name is Maranda, which is an alternate spelling of Miranda, a name Shakespeare invented for the female lead of this play. Secondly, this is one of Shakespeare’s two most magickal Fantasy plays, with the other being A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
So, it is pretty clear to see that I was delighted to finally get the chance to see this film recently. Now, it is not highly rated, standing at a 2.6 out of 5 on Letterboxd and a 5.3 out of 10 on IMDb. This would make one think that the film is pretty average, but nothing can be further from the truth, at least in my opinion! I think that some of the reasons that the film is not well received include that it is based on a Shakespeare play that is not one of the favorites to adapt (like Romeo and Juliet), this film genderbends Prospero to Prospera (which may annoy Shakespeare purists), and it is much more fantasitical than other works of the Bard (which may turn off those who are not fans of Fantasy).
Now, the gender-bending of the lead character is something that could easily have been gimmicky, a fear of the director, but after a readthrough, they figured out that the story does not change too greatly by swapping Prospero’s gender. Helen Mirren’s Prospera, instead of being the ousted Duke of Milan, was the Duchess of Milan whose husband had died and her brother usurped her right to rule by accusing her of Witchcraft and Sorcery (very fitting for a play that was written in 1611). Once she was exiled, Prospera truly became a great Sorceress (as she was already skilled in Alchemy) with the aid of her spirit Ariel. Prospera also raised her daughter Miranda on the Island they landed on after her exile! No one could have played the role quite like Helen Mirren, and I thoroughly enjoyed her performance. The film has a great cast overall, with Felicity Jones as Miranda, Reeve Carney as Prince Ferdinand, Alan Cumming as Sebastian, and Alfred Molina as Stephano. Even the seemingly odd choice in casting Russell Brand in this film proved a good one, as he played the Jester character Trinculo with appropriately silly humor, meaning he was a great choice for the comic relief character of the story!
I adored the visuals of the film, which were a combination of the beauty of nature on Prospera’s Enchanted Island and the surrealist imagery of her spellcasting and Ariel’s delightful mayhem. I want to shout out Ben Whishaw as Ariel, as well, as his performance was ideal to capture the androgyny of the character and his Fae spirit energy, which was aided with costuming and make-up during transformations. In fact, the costuming overall was sublime, and the make-up work, especially on Caliban (and as noted, Ariel), was well done.
I have to say that this has truly become my favorite version of the play put to film. Swapping the gender of the protagonist actually added a layer of depth, as Prospera had a more profound reason to want revenge, being a woman who was betrayed after already having suffered the loss of her husband. She clearly wanted to make sure her daughter had a better life, and tested the burgeoning love between Ferdinand and Miranda accordingly. As I mentioned above, the witchcraft accusations fit with the time period in which the play was written quite well. This is especially true when we know that James I, the Witchhunter King, had recently succeeded to the Throne of England in 1603 (after the death of Elizabeth I), only eight years prior to the play being written! Even the dialogue of the play was quite easily adapted to change the gender of the protagonist, proving how this change was one that did not disturb the plot.
I hope you have enjoyed my review of this film, which I think is truly amazing. Have you seen this film? Do you want to see it now? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is a still of Prosperia and Miranda from the film. I found the picture on https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/new-york-film-festival-2010-the-tempest/.
LINK TO AVALONIAN ROSE FAERY MYSTERIES PATREON: patreon.com/AvalonianRoseFaeryMysteries
Further Reading/Watching
- The Tempest by William Shakespeare
- The Tempest (2010)