1/23/12
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Who best performs the "To be or not to be" soliloquy?
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I really enjoyed the film even though I had never heard the Tempest story before. However it was hard to follow at times.
ReplyDeleteI have only had a brief introduction to Shakespeare in the past. I usually can not follow the plot when I am reading. However, when we watched the movie, I found that I followed it perfectly. I liked the acting and costumes. The emotions seemed right and not forced.
ReplyDeleteI thought the movie was well made. I really enjoyed the fact that Taymor kept the original language of the play intact. with how well the acting was combined with this adherence to the original script, it kind of made me feel like I taking a peek inside of Shakespeare's head.
ReplyDeleteI really liked this film I thought that Taymors use of different angles and lighting gave the film a dramatic effect. I really enjoyed how Taymor used much of the original language from the Shakespeares play with a combination of Taymor modern style of cinematography this gave the film and interesting modern twist on a classic story.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with the last two post. I liked that the original language from the play was used. It added a very dramatic aspect to the characters. It was easy to be drawn into the emotions that were being portrayed.
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting first to have Prospero become Prospera, as a matter of interpretation, and second (as someone said above) that Taymor kept the dialogue of the play exactly as is in Shakespeare's written play. It keeps it pure...at least in this matter. With the purity in dialogue kept, it further makes the switch from Prospero to Prospera a matter of interest.
ReplyDeleteIt was difficult for me, relatively inexperienced with Shakespeare, to keep up. That said, the visual was a great help during the viewing and my initial read. And truly, the movie genre opens the doors for different and perhaps more nuanced interpretation. You can do much more with special effects technology than you can on a stage. Not that one or the other is better, but there is more opportunity this way.
I enjoyed watching this film. Being able to see all the different surroundings of the scenes that were being filmed were really interesting. Most scenes consists of tensions. Even though I didn't quite understand what was being said, I was still able to follow what was happening in the movie.
ReplyDeleteI thoroughly enjoyed this version of The Tempest. I originally read this play in 11th grade english and was not infatuated with it. I usually stray towards the violence of Titus and the such but this version has swayed me. I agree with the general consensus that the original dialogue was a good choice, which is surprising because I hated it in Romeo + Juliet. Also the casting of Alfred Molina and Russel Brand were great decisions. (In fact i think Russel Brand would do an Amazing "Feste" or "Mercutio". All in all this film definitely was a great adaptation.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant, brilliant casting of Russell Brand and Helen Mirren for two completely different reasons. They made the movie for me. I have never read The Tempest before, but it is quickly becoming one of my favorites. On a side note, Ariel's character in both the play and the movie kind of annoy me. He seems very childish. I would like to see more resentment toward Prospera for his captivity, like Caliban does, though I see the idea behind the contrasting characters.
ReplyDeleteI thought this movie was really interesting, especially the struggle for power between all of the characters. The language was hard for me to understand so the subtitles were greatly appreciated.
ReplyDeleteI have never seen a Shakespeare movie before and after seeing this one, I think that it was well done. It was shot in a beautiful place which made this movie really good, the only negative thing was that they speak in a way that I still don't quite understand because I didn't get to read much Shakespeare in high school. Overall I enjoyed this movie and reading the play gave me a chance to compare and contrast their similarities and differences.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the fact that Prospero was played by a woman in Taymor's Tempest. It made sense that a woman would be banished for practicing witchcraft and that her brother would take over. From my experience of the few Shakespeare plays that I have read, there aren't a lot of female characters, much less lead characters, so it was a nice way to make the play more modern by having a female lead character. In high school, I took part in a production of Romeo and Juliet and we made Thybalt a woman just so we could have more girls in the play.
ReplyDeleteI loved the character of Caliban in this version too. He is constantly being referred to as a monster in the play, and his make-up really made him seem monstrous and strange.
Although I can follow the events of the plays well enough, I'd much rather watch a production of a play or a movie. Shakespeare's words sound so much better out loud than read quietly to myself.
I found it interesting that in the play Prospero forgave everyone on the island and released Ariel, but made no mention of forgiving/ releasing Caliban. Did anyone else have any thoughts on this? I wondered how the movie would handle this, and I really appreciated the result. There is no dialogue in the play explaining what happens to Caliban, but the way that Caliban slowly walked up the stairs and out the door suggested that he had finally gained his freedom but how would he respond? He served his mother Sycorax, then Prospero and then Stefano and now he would have no master and would have to find his own way.
ReplyDeleteI had not seen this play unlike most of the other movies we have seen in this class and I was quite happy to see this play. It was masterfully put together between the severe nature of what the banished mother is trying to do so that she and her daughter can have the life that was taken away from them and also the spirits and magical sense that makes it all possible. The fact that the lead character was changed to a female just made it so much more relatable to modern times in my opinion. It was a great choice by the director. It has made me curious to look into the rest of the films done by this director.
ReplyDelete