things you may not know

[tisiphone]

The summer between 9th grade and 10th grade, I read all of Shakespeare's work. Oh yes, all of it - 154 sonnets, 38 plays, and Pilgrim's Progress (which is iffy and attributed to someone else, but as a completionist I had to do it.) Of these, two clear favorites emerged: A Midsummer Night's Dream, and The Tempest. Ask me sometime for one of Puck's soliloquies, I'll show you. But for now...

As I foretold you, were all spirits and
Are melted into air, into thin air:
And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep -

Helen Mirren as Prospero? Brilliant. I can't wait.
(From solipsistnation

Comments

[rufinia.livejournal.com]

...whoa

[skreidle.livejournal.com]

Man, that's a lot of Shakespeare--and a ridiculous[ly awesome] amount for one summer.

My dad got a copy of the Complete Works (Illustrated)--big, thick, leather-bound, illustrated panels, very nice--but I don't think he ever read from it.

[tisiphone.livejournal.com]

It was a hell of a lot of Shakespeare. The librarians were looking at me funny by the time I got to Troilius and Cressida.

[skreidle.livejournal.com]

I've meant to read more Shakespeare for years, but have yet to get around to it..

[greyhame.livejournal.com]

I'm going to see this movie so hard. So hard. I fucking love The Tempest.

[chicleeblair.livejournal.com]

HOLY YES

[boxcat.livejournal.com]

Many aspects of this look wonderful - although I note that a fairly large amount of the styling looks ... shall we say very similar to this year's Sam Mendes production of the Tempest at the Old Vic. This should not be construed as criticism though - that production was amazing, and the styling was already quite cinematic.

What I do have a problem with is that, based on this preview, I do not find Helen Mirren very convincing as Prospero. I also hope to God they've just cast a woman as a male character, rather than making Prospero a woman & Miranda's mother.

[skreidle.livejournal.com]

[In her big-screen adaptation of Shakespeare's mystical thriller "The Tempest," Academy Award(R)-nominated Julie Taymor ("Across the Universe," "Frida," "Titus") brings an original dynamic to the story by changing the gender of the sorcerer Prospero into the sorceress Prospera, portrayed by Oscar(R) winner Helen Mirren ("The Queen"). Prospera's journey spirals through vengeance to forgiveness as she reigns over a magical island, cares for her young daughter, Miranda, and unleashes her powers against shipwrecked enemies in this exciting, masterly mix of romance, tragicomedy and the supernatural.]

[boxcat.livejournal.com]

[... trashing a lot of important narrative themes on the way, possibly to generate column inches, but possibly just because modern cinema audiences can't cope with the idea of a person of one gender playing a character of another]

Aargh. I'll wait for the torrent and people's reviews before I brave this I think. Ty for heads-up.

[tisiphone.livejournal.com]

People have been fucking about with Shakespeare since approximately Shakespeare's day.

[boxcat.livejournal.com]

Exactly. Some of those fuckings-about have been wonderful, others regretable.

My point is that it will take more than some cinematic eyecandy to overcome some of the potential narrative problems that I see this change introducing.

I think I'll collect my thoughts and post something on my own journal.

[scien.livejournal.com]

OMG SHINY.

I fail at favourites, but The Tempest is easily in the top three.

[skreidle.livejournal.com]

Also, that trailer looks fantastic. :)