It takes a lot of work to create a film starring Helen Mirren that doesn’t benefit from her presence, but Director Julie Taymor succeeded at doing just that with The Tempest, a film so focused on creating an impressive visual spectacle that it fails to do justice to the Shakespearean source whose story is supposedly giving it some form or structure. It’s not just Helen Mirren who’s wasted here though. The Tempest boasts an impressive cast with the likes of Alan Cumming, Alfred Molina, Chris Cooper, Djimon Hounsou, and David Strathairn. The classic tale of revenge of a sorceress and the victims of her treacherous architecture, The Tempest has the potential to be a rich story of the human capacity for forgiveness and the generational inheritance of hatred. In the right hands, perhaps this would be a film better balanced between its visual splendor and its storytelling, but Taymor’s direction lacks the nuance to capture the subtlety of the Bard’s emotional charge. Instead, we have an inert but brilliant looking film that leaves audiences feeling cold despite the talent assembled therein.
For a story about a sorceress exacting vengeance upon the men who slighted her, the structure of The Tempest is quite simple. With the aid of elemental spirits, Prospera (Mirren) shipwrecks a few noblemen (Cumming, Cooper, Tom Conti) on her island. As she prepares to settle their debts in her eyes, she outlines her motivations and methods to her daughter (Felicity Jones) and the son (Reeve Carney) of one of the nobles who washed up on shore. The two parties traverse the harsh environs of the island where they encounter other, more comical survivors of the wreck as well as other personalities in the form of jesters (Russell Brand), butlers (Molina), and slaves (Hounsou).
Taymor has never failed at creating works of overwhelming visual form, but where she has long lacked, both in film and on the stage of Broadway, is in her ability to tell a story. Even as she brings The Tempest’s sorcery and fantastical elements to life, she does so in such a way that seldom seems unique or genuinely creative. Her take on the tale has little more originality than a straight read through of the story, it’s as faithful and unimaginative a version of Shakespeare’s work as one could comprise. Anyone familiar with Taymor’s recent output since Frida back in 2002 has come to expect a final product with more style than substance. It seems as if Taymor’s objective has shifted away from competent storytelling to creating dreamlike cinescapes which make the most of a special effects budget while paying little mind to the script and performances that make up the rest of the film, like a more artsy Michael Bay. Just like Across the Universe, The Tempest is a richly conceived visual presentation that offers nothing for anyone who wants something of merit between all the bluster and showmanship.
Given the cast involved, you would like to believe The Tempest to be one of the best acted films in recent memory, and yet for every memorable performance there is at least two of such middling quality as to render the whole affair a waste of time. Furthermore, the better cast members clearly aren’t giving their best turns, and instead the entire film sounds like a table read by a collection of expert but bored actors. Then, just when one of the great leads pauses, an actor like Reeve Carney chimes in a spoils any goodwill the previous performances earned it. At least, that’s how it would work if the story started and ended with all members of the cast, but it starts with a collection of characters that builds from two to three and then four. And so instead of a majority of skilled actors balancing poor performances by an inexperienced few, Helen Mirren carries the first third with only Carney and Felicity Jones to aid her – and it suffers horrendously because of it. For his part, Carney seems incapable of giving a grounded performance at any level and instead just goes to far in whatever direction the moment calls for no matter what the situation calls for.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
Julie Taymor offers a decent audio commentary, though it’s odd to hear her talk of coaching actors when the end result on that front is so bland, but her notes on the film’s aesthetic certainly has merit. Perhaps the more interesting audio commentary, however, comes from Virginia Vaughan and Jonathan Bate, Shakespeare experts. Two other featurettes in a similar vein include a video of a rehearsal session between Taymor, Hounsou, Brand, and Molina for their collection of scenes together along with a video of Brand doing his version of a Robin Williams comedy rant adlibbing off the script. Finally, the most substantial of the extras is Taymor’s self-made documentary about the creation of the film. The last element is the music video for “O Mistress Mine”.
"The Tempest" is on sale September 13, 2011 and is rated PG13. Drama, Fantasy. Directed by Julie Taymor. Written by Julie Taymor (screenplay), William Shakespeare (play). Starring Alan Cumming , Alfred Molina, Chris Cooper, David Strathairn, Djimon Hounsou, Felicity Jones, Helen Mirren, Russell Brand, Reeve Carney.
