‘The Tempest’ in cinema
‘Prospero’s Books’ a British fantasy drama film written and directed by Peter Greenaway will be screened at 4 pm on March 24 at the Digital Academy of the Sri Lanka Foundation, Independence Square, Colombo 7.
An exiled magician finds an opportunity for revenge against his enemies muted when his daughter and the son of his chief enemy fall in love in this uniquely structured retelling of the ‘The Tempest’ by William Shakespeare.
The film will be followed by an introduction by Saman Wickramaarachchi on the topic ‘Greenaway: experiments in cinematic form and content’ and the discussion is moderated by Sudath Mahadivulwewa.
John Gielgud is Prospero, the protagonist who provides the off-screen narration and the voices to the other story characters. Stylistically, Prospero’s Books is narratively and cinematically innovative in its techniques, combining mime, dance, opera, and animation. Edited in Japan, the film makes extensive (and pioneering) use of digital image manipulation (using Hi-Vision video inserts and the Paintbox system), often overlaying multiple moving and still pictures with animations. Michael Nyman composed the musical score and Karine Saporta choreographed the dance.