Prospero's Books

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🎙️ EPISODE 427: 03.22.22 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟏𝟎-𝐕𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐞 RANKING GREENAWAY 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 1991's Prospero's Books is an array of dazzling images. It is, alongside Greenaway's television adaptation of Dante, the dawning of a new era, visually. On the surface, this is a rather straight read (at least in terms of language) of Shakespeare's 1610 play "The Tempest." Though, funny enough, despite this being the only entry that uses adapted source material, it plays as the Greenaway's most abstract work to date in many ways. As ever, when you think he's gonna zig, he zags.

From the perspective of a dullard such as I, who hasn't thought about the works of Sir William since I was forced to in high school, this doesn't work or even function as a movie in my opinion. Always the painter, this felt more like a work of art. Perhaps it belongs inside a museum, playing on a loop projected on a wall; perfect to be viewed in passing, absorbing 2-12 minutes at a clip. And maybe to say this of a Shakespeare text is sacrilege, but this — after all — a Greenaway version of a Shakespeare text.

Visually, there is a lot going on. Some would say too much. Here we seeing the dawning of a new style, where what happens in the editing room is just as important as anything else. There are plenty of ties to earlier films. Some holdovers from the earlier, more heralded work: color palettes and tracking shots which recall The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover, for example. But it also breaks free in a massive way, with its use of overlays and picture-in-picture techniques, fascinating though brief animation sequences, and the most elaborate set-piece productions featuring dozens of often naked dancers and extras — occasionally, all employed at once. Greenaway's work has always been masterfully edited, but this is the first time where THE EDIT has been used in such a way that it becomes THE defining element.

I can't grade this work as a movie. In the end, it's not for me. I don't have the attention span for this Old English narration. But as an original work of art, it's a 10/10. So let's call it a Movie 7: its wild visuals and terrific Nyman score make it among the best background fodder ever made.

CHRONOLOGICALLY
⫷ EPISODE 426B - (YOU ARE HERE) - EPISODE 427B ⫸

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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. It was released on August 30, 1991.