Prospero’s Books
- Synopsis
- Feature film based on Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Prospero is given 24 books to lessen the pain of his exile on a barren island. Greenaway interprets The Tempest as a mind reviewing its entire contents, and these books, which include the text of the film, comprise a collection of all knowledge, and also allude to many of Greenaway’s earlier films. A commentary on the play is supplied by images of the books, generated by high-definition television and computer paintbox graphics.
- Language
- English
- Country
- France; Great Britain; Italy; Netherlands
- Medium
- Film
- Technical information
- Black-and-white / Sound
- Year of release
- 1991
- Duration
- 120 mins
Credits
- Director
- Peter Greenaway
- Producer
- Kees Kasander
- Cinematographer
- Sacha Vierny
- Screenplay
- Peter Greenaway
- Music
- Michael Nyman
- Art Direction
- Eljo Embregts; Wilma Schuemie
- Cast
Additional Details
- Production type
- Fiction Films
- Plays
- Tempest, The
- Subjects
- Drama
- Keywords
- Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)
- Related items
- Peter Greenaway: Anatomy of a Film-Maker
- Walk Through Prospero’s Library, A
Notes
- General
- According to Greenaway, Prospero’s books (the twenty four books given to him by Gonzalo before his exile) were: The Book of Water, A Book of Mirrors, A Book of Mythologies, A Primer of the Small Stars, An Atlas Belonging to Orpheus, A Harsh Book of Geometry, The Book of Colours, The Vesalius Anatomy of Birth, An Alphabetical Inventory of the Dead, A Book of Travellers’ Tales, the Book of the Earth, A Book of Architecture and Other Music, The Ninety-Two Conceits of the Minotaur, The Book of Languages, End-Plants, A Book of Love, A Bestiary of Past, Present and Future Animals, The Book of Utopias, The Book of Universal Cosmography, Love of Ruins, The Autobiographies of Pasiphae and Semiramis, A Book of Motion, The Book of Games, and Thirty-Six Plays (the latter volume with nineteen pages left blank at the front for the inclusion of the first play, ‘The Tempest’).
- Figures
- $1, 750,301 Total Lifetime Gross (USA) - Box Office Mojo 2005
- Reviews
- Donaldson, Peter S. ‘Shakespeare in the Age of Post-Mechanical Reproduction: Sexual and Electronic Magic in PROSPERO’S BOOKS’. in Burt, Richard & Boose, Lynda E. Shakespeare the Movie, II: Popularizing the Plays on Film, TV, Video and DVD (New York & London: Routledge, 2003), pp. 105-119.
Production Company
- Name
Allarts
- Name
Cinea/Camera One
- Name
Penta
Distributor
- Name
Moviemail
- Web
- https://www.simplyhe.com/3000-moviemail External site opens in new window
- Phone
- 0844 848 2000
- Address
- Simply Home Entertainment
PO Box 7741
Ringwood
BH24 9FA
UK - Notes
- As of December 2016 the Moviemail web presence is incorporated within the Simply Media website
Distributor (Sale)
- Name
Retail outlets
How to cite this record
Shakespeare, "Prospero’s Books". https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/shakespeare/search/index.php/title/17466 (Accessed 26 Nov 2024)