Product Details

• Actors: Peter Bull, David Meyer, Neil Cunningham, Heathcote Williams, Toyah Willcox
• Directors: Derek Jarman
• Writers: Derek Jarman, William Shakespeare
• Producers: Don Boyd, Guy Ford, Mordecai Shreiber, Sarah Radclyffe
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Kino Video
• DVD Release Date: February 22, 2000
• Run Time: 95 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6305739862
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #111,221 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "The Tempest" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

The Tempest, the last of William Shakespeare's great plays, was adapted for the screen for the first time by Derek Jarman in 1979. Among the most visionary of modern film artists, Jarman, who died of AIDS in 1994, at age 52, was one of the first directors -- outside of the porno circuit -- to present openly gay material in feature-length films. Shot on location at the ancient and ghostly Stoneleigh Abbey, The Tempest tells the story of Prospero, the magician, who lives with his nubile daughter on an enchanted island and punishes his enemies when they are shipwrecked there. It's a study of sexual and political power in the guise of a fairy tale. Jarman presents Shakespeare's intricate comedy of magic and revenge in a form that is at once faithful to the spirit of the play and an original and dazzling spectacle mixing Hollywood pastiche, high camp and gothic horror. His film recalls the innocent homeroticism of Pasolini't versions of classics, while its lush sense of d+ªcor and color is worthy of Minnelli. The film's master stroke is the finale, a wedding feast designed and choreographed as a full-scale production number, with the veteran black musical star Elisabeth Welch (Song of Freedom, Big Fella) wafting her way through a chorus line of hunky sailors as she belts out "Stormy Weather." It's one of the great scenes in British cinema.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

137 of 165 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Uneven Avant-Garde Production December 11, 1999

By Rich Hicks

Format:VHS Tape

This low budget movie retains Shakespeare's language and some startling as well as disturbing interpretations of his play. Prospero's cave is a gothic mansion. Ariel is a deadpan, rather grim butler ala Joel Grey in Cabaret. Caliban resembles an escaped lunatic complete with maniacal laughter. Nevertheless all the characters despite their departure from more traditional depictions are well acted and worth watching. Miranda in particular has more brains and pluck in this production than the simpering waif she is often portrayed to be. The play drags on where Jarmon cut a lot of the poetry in favor of more scenes of the characters traipsing about the mansion. Such scenes become monotonous about halfway through the movie. Film is unrated but contains several scenes of full frontal nudity as well as a particularly disturbing vision of an adult Caliban suckling a nude, obese Sycorax. As a teacher of English, seleced scenes were worth showing to my ninth grade class but the film was too monotonous, and contained too much perversity to show in its entirety.

43 of 50 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Irreverent, yet stunningly true to the SPIRITof the original June 30, 1999

By A Customer

Format:VHS Tape

I was dragged, kicking & screaming, to this film the first time I saw it. Staggeringly enough, I wound up being utterly captivated. While the film most closely resembles a fantasia on themes from Shakespeare's play, its spirit is so at one with the original I don't think anyone but the most literal-minded purist could possibly object. With appallingly limited means, but a virtually limitless visual imagination, Jarman creates a true world of wonder. There are moments of stunning beauty throughout -- Miranda's vision of herself as a child, Ferdinand dragging himself naked from the sea and staggering, half-drowned, along the shore -- and magnificent character choices -- Karl Johnson's still, sad-faced Ariel, Jack Birkett's egg-sucking, North Country Caliban, Heathcote Williams' youthful, vigorous, anarchic Prospero. All crowned, however, by an indescribably joyous "wedding masque" -- a loopy sailors dance followed by Elizabeth Welch sweeping in, all in gold, to sing (what else?)"Stormy Weather" as the entire cast practically melts in bliss. Only certain segments of Fellini's "The Clowns" have ever made me catch my breath the way I did repeatedly during this film. Made on a shoestring, this film is a triumph of wit & imagination. I tear up just thinking about it.

30 of 36 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Imaginative but disappointing September 18, 2001

By Bert McCarthy

Format:VHS Tape|Amazon Verified Purchase

I really wanted to like this production, and it definitely has its moments: the film is quite stylish and certainly provocative and uninhibited. Nevertheless, I am in something of a hurry to express my dismay on a number of fronts. A very important part of understanding and appreciating Shakespeare is to grasp his vision of the magical and mystical realms. The sprite-inhabited forest of "Midsummer Night's Dream" and the transformative enchantment of Arden forest in "As You Like It" are indicative of the Bard's far-reaching insight involving alternate perspectives and, yes, alternate realities. Here lies much of the abiding richness and charm of the plays, especially the comedies. I believe that Prospero and Ariel are intended to participate and represent the "Brave New World" of these realities. Thus, these characters necessarily will fall quite a bit short of expectation when they are portrayed as adynamic, dull, and manifestly unwise. The sad result is a production that lacks "spirit" and is incapable of achieving a desired goal of enchantment and upliftment. What we are left with instead is a "dance of the sailors" and a curious rendition of "Stormy Weather" -- far from satisfying, in contrast with other productions I have seen. As for the Caliban character, he needs to be presented as earthy and brutish, yes, but not, I think, maniacal. I was also puzzled about his being portrayed as being in his fifties (or sixties) when simple mathematics, not to mention tradition, would suggest a much younger creature.