Subject: REVIEW: PROSPERO'S BOOKS

From: [email-masked] (Brian L. Johnson)
Date: 20 Jan 92 20:55:32 GMT

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                            PROSPERO'S BOOKS
                      A film review by Ken Johnson
                       Copyright 1992 Ken Johnson

125 min., R, Drama, 1991
Director: Peter Greenaway
Cast: John Gielgud, Michael Clark, Isabelle Pasco, Michel Blanc, Erland
      Josephson, Tom Bell, Kenneth Cranham, Mark Rylance, Jim Vd Woude,
      Gerard Thoolen, Pierre Bokma

It's been two hours of silence, it's been two hours of pain, it's been
two hours that are gone forever that I'll never have again!  (with
apologies to Guns N' Roses).

      I am not really a fan of William Shakespeare.  I have not *had* to
read any of his plays yet (although I have heard that high school
teachers are fond of his work so I expect I will have had to read some
by the time I graduate).  I have seen two of Shakespeare's plays on the
screen, those being the 1990 version of HAMLET, which I gave a one, and
the 1953 version of JULIUS CAESAR, which I gave a zero.  PROSPERO'S
BOOKS I give a zero (on a zero to five basis).  I am obviously not the
only person with that feeling towards this film though because at least
six people walked out of the theater while the film was running (the
first, ten minutes into the film).  The reactions from some of the
audience towards the film seemed to be the same as mine.  My mother and
my sister also went and saw the film.  My mother is a fan of William
Shakespeare's work and she didn't like the film at all.  And my sister,
who is age 14, almost fell asleep during the film.  I am not saying that
no one will like the film but it has a very limited audience.
PROSPERO'S BOOKS is rated R for female nudity, male nudity, and adult
situations.

      William Shakespeare *did not* write PROSPERO'S BOOKS.  William
Shakespeare wrote THE TEMPEST.  Someone else (sorry, I missed who wrote
it) wrote PROSPERO'S BOOKS very loosely on THE TEMPEST.  I feel that if
William Shakespeare were alive today he would be disgusted with this
film.   William Shakespeare made THE TEMPEST as a comedy.  This is
definitely not a comedy, at least as far as I can tell.  The film is
supposed to be dream sequences, but it runs more like an LSD nightmare
from hell.  There are double images on the screen (sometimes triple)
that seem to have nothing to do with each other.  There is a lot of talk
about Prospero's endless amount of books that does nothing for the film.
In fact, most of Prospero's books are just plain boring, like the book
of mirrors.  THE TEMPEST is sort of followed but for those that have not
yet read THE TEMPEST that will be lost.  The words are jumbled together
and it was hard for me to follow, and I know the plot line of THE
TEMPEST.  For this reason I suggest that if you plan to go see
PROSPERO'S BOOKS that you first check out THE TEMPEST from your local
library and read it.

      There is a lot of nudity both male and female in the film, but it
is not done in an erotic fashion.  Most of the spirits wear little or no
clothing.   But they are just not clothed, it's not like it is a wild
orgy or anything like that.  There is only one sex scene in the film and
it lasts only a fraction of a second.  There is no bad language in the
film (I am not counting the reactions of some of the audience to the
film).  In some parts of the film the dialogue is put in the corners of
the screen, maybe so those who can't understand what the people are
saying can read it.  I would recommend not bringing your young children
to the film for no other reason than they will be bored through the
entire film.  I don't think the film is worth hiring a babysitter for,
so if you are a parent with children and you must see PROSPERO'S BOOKS,
I would highly suggest renting PROSPERO'S BOOKS when it comes to video
(if it does come to video) instead of seeing it in the theaters (plus it
will save you the high costs of the theater).

      I can't say anything really good about the costumes either.  Most
of the people in the film (the spirits) seemed to have a real lack of
costumes.   Whereas most of the others had costumes to the point of
ridiculousness.   The island seems to be a very dreary place to live,
and if I were Prospero, and had his powers, I would simply conjure up a
boat and get off that island.   Most of the film takes place in a very
dreary building.  The building is sometimes like a castle with
tapestries, columns, and elegant furniture and sometimes it is very
plain.  The most important part of this building seems to be a pool
which seems to be for both swimming and urinating in (how gross huh?).
There also seems to be a forest in this island, but it is not any forest
that I would want to live in.  It is very dark and gloomy (plus that
strange Caliban lives in there).

      I really hate to walk out from a movie without anything good to
say about it, so here is the good aspects of PROSPERO'S BOOKS.  The
previews for the coming attractions was not bad at all (of course the
previews will be different in your theater but I think it is safe to say
that any preview will be better than this film).  And Isabelle Pasco is
rather pretty.  I am sorry to say that I can't even talk about her
acting abilities for she doesn't get a chance to show any off.  For
about the first half of the film Pasco is sleeping.  That seems to be
one of the main features in the film for the camera man keeps showing us
many different angles.  Also, she only gets to say a couple of words
(was it four?)  during the entire movie.  This case seems to be true for
most of the actors in the film.  The only person who really has a
speaking role was John Gielgud (and maybe the person who played
Caliban).  Most of the actors only get to mutter a few sentences, at
best.  I will stop here with my trashing of the film.  I could probably
go on forever but I don't wish to bore you.

      One last comment, at the end of the film when Prospero throws a
copy of THE TEMPEST into the pool, I think that might be symbolic of how
Peter Greenaway threw out most of the charm from THE TEMPEST when making
this film.

      I am sorry but I really can't recommend PROSPERO'S BOOKS for
anyone.   My suggestion is to save your money and go see something else,
anything else.  The film KUFFS is a very good movie.  Maybe you should
go see that instead.

Ken J.