Shakespeare Network | Prospero's Books - John Gielgud - Mark Rylance - Michael Clark - Isabelle Pasco - 1991 - 4K @ShakespeareNetwork | Uploaded February 2024 | Updated October 2024, 2 hours ago.
Prospero's Books is a 1991 British avant-garde film adaptation of William Shakespeare's The Tempest, written and directed by Peter Greenaway. Sir John Gielgud plays Prospero, the protagonist who provides the off-screen narration and the voices to the other story characters. As noted by Peter Conrad in The New York Times on 17 November 1991, Greenaway intended the film “as an homage to the actor and to his "mastery of illusion." In the film, Prospero is Shakespeare, and having rehearsed the action inside his head, speaking the lines of all the other characters, he concludes the film by sitting down to write The Tempest.”
Peter Greenaway - Career Retrospective On and Off Camera - 2023: youtu.be/ajlg4d84oqc
Stylistically, Prospero's Books is narratively and cinematically innovative in its techniques, combining mime, dance, opera, and animation. Edited in Japan, the film makes extensive use of digital image manipulation (using Hi-Vision video inserts and the Quantel Paintbox system), often overlaying multiple moving and still pictures with animations. Michael Nyman composed the musical score and Karine Saporta choreographed the dance.
CAST
Sir John Gielgud as Prospero
Michael Clark as Caliban
Michel Blanc as Alonso
Erland Josephson as Gonzalo
Isabelle Pasco as Miranda
Tom Bell as Antonio
Kenneth Cranham as Sebastian
Mark Rylance as Ferdinand
Gerard Thoolen as Adrian
Pierre Bokma as Francisco
Jim van der Woude as Trinculo
Michiel Romeyn as Stephano
Paul Russell as Ariel
James Thiérrée as Ariel
Read Shakespeare's Complete Works online for free: shakespearenetwork.net/works
_______________________________
Screen Adaptation - Co-Production : MISANTHROPOS – Official Website - misanthropos.net
Adapted by Maximianno Cobra, from Shakespeare's "Timon of Athens", the film exposes the timeless challenge of social hypocrisy, disillusion and annihilation against the poetics of friendship, love, and beauty.
IMDb page: imdb.com/title/tt6946736
_______________________________
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Why Donate?
Donations to Shakespeare Network help sustain free knowledge and educational programs on Shakespeare Network and our ecosystem of Shakespeare Network projects. Your contributions ensure these resources remain accessible and valuable for all. Thank you.
25% Direct support to website:
Keeping the Shakespeare Network websites online is about more than just servers. It also includes ongoing engineering improvements, product development, design and research, and legal support.
25% Administration and governance:
We manage funds and resources responsibly to recruit and support skilled, passionate staff who advance our communities and values.
Our operating budget:
Transparency is core to our organization. The Shakespeare Network develops our annual plan and operating budget through open processes, which are subject to feedback from our volunteers and
Board approval.
50% Direct support to communities:
Shakespeare Network projects exist thanks to the communities that create and maintain them. We strengthen these communities through grants, projects, and training programs.
Contact us for further info. →
______________________________________
Shakespeare Network Educational Program:
- A Companion to Shakespeare -masterclasses, reviews, reactions, Academic Studies, historical and original audio-visual content, etc.
Prospero's Books is a 1991 British avant-garde film adaptation of William Shakespeare's The Tempest, written and directed by Peter Greenaway. Sir John Gielgud plays Prospero, the protagonist who provides the off-screen narration and the voices to the other story characters. As noted by Peter Conrad in The New York Times on 17 November 1991, Greenaway intended the film “as an homage to the actor and to his "mastery of illusion." In the film, Prospero is Shakespeare, and having rehearsed the action inside his head, speaking the lines of all the other characters, he concludes the film by sitting down to write The Tempest.”
Peter Greenaway - Career Retrospective On and Off Camera - 2023: youtu.be/ajlg4d84oqc
Stylistically, Prospero's Books is narratively and cinematically innovative in its techniques, combining mime, dance, opera, and animation. Edited in Japan, the film makes extensive use of digital image manipulation (using Hi-Vision video inserts and the Quantel Paintbox system), often overlaying multiple moving and still pictures with animations. Michael Nyman composed the musical score and Karine Saporta choreographed the dance.
CAST
Sir John Gielgud as Prospero
Michael Clark as Caliban
Michel Blanc as Alonso
Erland Josephson as Gonzalo
Isabelle Pasco as Miranda
Tom Bell as Antonio
Kenneth Cranham as Sebastian
Mark Rylance as Ferdinand
Gerard Thoolen as Adrian
Pierre Bokma as Francisco
Jim van der Woude as Trinculo
Michiel Romeyn as Stephano
Paul Russell as Ariel
James Thiérrée as Ariel
Read Shakespeare's Complete Works online for free: shakespearenetwork.net/works
_______________________________
Screen Adaptation - Co-Production : MISANTHROPOS – Official Website - misanthropos.net
Adapted by Maximianno Cobra, from Shakespeare's "Timon of Athens", the film exposes the timeless challenge of social hypocrisy, disillusion and annihilation against the poetics of friendship, love, and beauty.
IMDb page: imdb.com/title/tt6946736
_______________________________
Support Us - Donations:
Why Donate?
Donations to Shakespeare Network help sustain free knowledge and educational programs on Shakespeare Network and our ecosystem of Shakespeare Network projects. Your contributions ensure these resources remain accessible and valuable for all. Thank you.
25% Direct support to website:
Keeping the Shakespeare Network websites online is about more than just servers. It also includes ongoing engineering improvements, product development, design and research, and legal support.
25% Administration and governance:
We manage funds and resources responsibly to recruit and support skilled, passionate staff who advance our communities and values.
Our operating budget:
Transparency is core to our organization. The Shakespeare Network develops our annual plan and operating budget through open processes, which are subject to feedback from our volunteers and
Board approval.
50% Direct support to communities:
Shakespeare Network projects exist thanks to the communities that create and maintain them. We strengthen these communities through grants, projects, and training programs.
Contact us for further info. →
______________________________________
Shakespeare Network Educational Program:
- A Companion to Shakespeare -masterclasses, reviews, reactions, Academic Studies, historical and original audio-visual content, etc.
