While Julie Taymor’s getting geeks’ panties in a bunch for her gestating “Spider-Man” Broadway show, her latest endeavor in cinema is an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest,” with an estimable cast that includes Helen Mirren, Alfred Molina, Chris Cooper, Alan Cumming, Russel Brand, and Ben Wishaw to name a few. Taymor’s no stranger to Shakespeare’s work, as her last cinematic foray into his oeuvre was her adaptation of “Titus Andronicus,” shortened simply to “Titus” way back in 1999 with Anthony Hopkins in the title role. Adding to her experience is the fact that she had already done “The Tempest” on three difference occasions, so suffice to say, she probably knows the piece like the back of her hand.
This time, however, the director wasn’t interested in completely sticking to the script, which called for what is essentially the main character of Prospero to be played by a male actor. Instead, Helen Mirren expressed interest, and the two were careful with the decision to gender swap. “We did a reading a year in advance, it was extremely critical to both Helen and myself that this not be a gimmick, that putting a woman into this role had validity for the Shakespeare play,” said Taymor at the New York Film Festival press conference. Would she really turn down a performance by great thespian Mirren? It’s doubtful, but the concern is understood and shows that the female filmmaker’s head was in the right place during pre-production, recognizing that the change would call attention, and so it would be necessary to avoid it being a mere contrivance. The swap, in fact, gave certain scenes a different and deeper layer. She spoke of one of the final scenes, where Prospera relinquished her magic and shed her island dwelling appearance for a more regal one.
“When you watch her go from these androgynous free clothes that you’d wear on an island to be comfortable, back into that severe female corset, she’s not just giving up her magic, she’s giving up her freedom for her daughter’s.”
These visual moments were sought out by Taymor, who said, “I wanted to have certain moments of breathers from the language.” And indeed, while the film version has been whittled down from a play that’s roughly 4 hours in its entirety, there’s still a plethora of dialogue to be digested — which she acknowledges as hard to break up because of its specific rhythm. Instead, she expounded on the newly opened doors that the film medium had presented her, such as the previously mentioned scene and the focus on the costume design. And also the environment the characters inhabit, which directly represented their feelings or the theme of a particular scene:
“When the king falls asleep,” she explains, “we’re in this incredible iron wood forest that we would get lost in. We’re doing a conspiracy here, so we need to find a place for these actors to hide, for these actors to go. When the clowns get drunk, they’re in what we call the ‘Ramble Forest’ and it’s all gnarled and it looks like ‘Hansel and Gretel’ and it’s like what’s going inside of them.”
In particular, Taymor found inspiration in the 1964 near-perfect Hiroshi Teshigahara film “Woman in the Dunes,” in which an unwilling couple live in a sand-dune with no way out.
“I never lost the love for this film, where the two lovers were down in a pit and everyone was watching from above. They couldn’t get out because it forced them into that incredible sexual moment. It pushes the two together, every piece of scenery was used to represent inner landscape.”
Those especially familiar with the play also know that it’s very musical, with the spirit Ariel, played by Ben Wishaw, performing many songs. No stranger to contemporary musicals, having directed the Beatles-inspired “Across the Universe,” Taymor and her constant collaborative composer Elliot Goldenthal opted for something a little different from the norm. Goldenthal still used many instruments of the time, such as didgeridoos and wood flutes, but they spoke of blending in current styles while still keeping the atmosphere of what they would’ve used around the birth of the play.
“We talked about this combination of contemporary sensibility and electric guitar. ‘The Tempest’ does have orchestral elements, but a lot of those elements are electric guitar. He uses (these) as an orchestra. I wanted to bridge time.”
Bridge time she did, as the conclucsion features the final monologue by Prospera as sung by Beth Gibbons, lead singer of the band Portishead. The closing speech was originally scrapped by Taymor, but when it came down to it, she realized it was incomplete without it. With no money left, she and her producers tried to come up with clever ideas to fit it back in, and a song by Gibbons just happened to be the idea that won. “Beth came to mind because she feels like Helen to me. She has the vulnerability and the power simultaneously.” The finale song puts a proper close on things, and amusingly enough, some even thought that it actually was Mirren’s voice over the music. “Some people think that it’s Helen singing, but Helen will tell you that she doesn’t sing.”
Whether Taymor succeeds in attracting audiences to her mix of past and present elements remains to be seen, as regular joe moviegoers (and honestly, even those into the art of cinema) often find the density and general wordiness of Shakespeare films to be a bit exasperating. The director seemed to be confident with her film and very adamant about her choice, simply stating “I didn’t want to update it. Shakespeare is all-time.”
“The Tempest” opens December 10, 2010.