The Tempest (1998 film)
The Tempest | |
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Based on | The Tempest by William Shakespeare |
Directed by | Jack Bender |
Starring | Peter Fonda |
Music by | Terence Blanchard |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Executive producers | Jack Bender |
Producer | James Bigwood |
Cinematography | |
Editor | Stephen Lovejoy |
Running time | 85 minutes |
Production companies | NBC Studios |
Distributor | NBC |
Release | |
Original release |
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The Tempest is a 1998 American drama television film directed by Jack Bender. It is a modernized adaptation of the William Shakespeare play The Tempest set in Mississippi during the Civil War starring Peter Fonda as Gideon Prosper, a character based on Shakespeare's Prospero.
Plot[]
Gideon Prosper, a Southern slave-owner, is forced off his plantation by his younger brother Anthony before the outbreak of the Civil War. Surviving in the Mississippi bayou, Prosper uses magic that he learned from one of his slaves to protect his teenage daughter and to assist the Union.
Cast[]
- Peter Fonda as Gideon Prosper
- John Glover as Anthony Prosper
- Harold Perrineau as Ariel
- Katherine Heigl as Miranda Prosper
- John Pyper-Ferguson as Gator Man
- Eddie Mills as Captain Frederick Allen
- as Wilfried "Willy" Gonzo
- Donzaleigh Abernathy as Mambo Azaleigh
- as General Grant
- as General Sherman
- Rhoda Griffis as Sophie Dupree
- as Old Ariel
- as Young Miranda
- as Lead Raider
- as Raider
- as General Pemberton
- as Sheriff
- as Union Sentry
- as Picket #2
- as Bluecoat
- as Scout
- as Lieutenant
- as Lewis
- as Picket
- as Field Slave
- Don Shanks as Overseer
- as Grant's Sergeant Major
- as Possee Member
- as Delia
- as Surgeon
- as Dancer
- Mark Miller as Union Soldier
- (stand-in for Katherine Heigl)
- Johnny W. Wilbans as 2nd Union Sentry
Production[]
Filming took place at Cypress Gardens, and other locations in, and around, Charleston, South Carolina.[1]
Broadcast[]
The film was broadcast on NBC at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Sunday, December 13, 1998.[2]
Reception[]
In his 2001 book Shakespeare in the Movies: From the Silent Era to Today, author Douglas Brode wrote that "Jack Bender's film emerged as yet another offbeat variation on Will's theme, but with the Bard's immortal poetry entirely excised."[3]
In a negative review for the Los Angeles Times, reviewer Daryl H. Miller wrote, "A miscalculation of epic proportions, this revision of one of the Bard’s masterworks is at times laugh-out-loud awful, at times offensive."[4]
In a negative review for People, reviewer Terry Kelleher wrote, "The low-key style that served Fonda so well in his Oscar-nominated Ulee’s Gold role doesn’t work for Prosper/Prospero, who needs a charisma that the actor can’t provide. The script gives Fonda two lines of actual Shakespeare at the end, and we admit he seems less than comfortable with the language."[2]
In a review for Variety, reviewer Laura Fries wrote, "What makes this production universally appealing is that it lacks the pretenses that usually come with a literary-based telepic. Writer James Henerson plays on such ’90s issues as lost faith, selfishness, vengeance and loyalty to propel this Civil War-era saga."[5]
See also[]
- List of William Shakespeare film adaptations
References[]
- ^ "The Tempest > A Conversation With Bonnie Raskin | Katherine Heigl Official Website".
- ^ a b "Picks and Pans Review: The Tempest". PEOPLE.com.
- ^ Brode, Douglas (February 23, 2000). Shakespeare in the Movies: From the Silent Era to Shakespeare in Love. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195139587 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Shakespeare's 'The Tempest' Goes South". Los Angeles Times. December 12, 1998.
- ^ Fries, Laura (December 11, 1998). "The Tempest".
External links[]
- The Tempest at IMDb
- 1998 films
- 1998 television films
- 1998 drama films
- American films
- American Civil War films
- American drama films
- American fantasy films
- American films based on plays
- American television films
- Drama television films
- English-language films
- Fantasy television films
- Films based on The Tempest
- Films directed by Jack Bender
- Films scored by Terence Blanchard
- Films set in 1851
- Films set in 1863
- Films set in Mississippi
- Films shot in South Carolina
- Modern adaptations of works by William Shakespeare