Prospero's Books (1991), written and directed by Peter Greenaway, is a cinematic adaptation of The Tempest, by William Shakespeare. 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, operatic set pieces, and animation. Michael Nyman composed the musical score and Karine Saporta choreographed the dance.
The daughter of an exiled magician, Prospero, and the son of his enemy fall in love, and the magician's sprite, Ariel, convinces him to abandon revenge against the traitors from his earlier life. In the film, Prospero stands in for Shakespeare, and is seen writing and speaking the story's action as it unfolds. Prospero's Books is a complex tale based upon William Shakespeare's The Tempest.Ariel is played by three actors — a boy, an adolescent, and a youth. Each represents a classical elemental...., http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102722
Update Sources
