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Shakespeare on acid: 24 layers of nakedness and John Gielgud's voice as ASMR for chaos.
TMDB
68
Rotten Tomatoes
62
Watch(FR)

Prospero's Books (1991)

baroque fever dreamliterary acid tripnaked painting come alive

Overview

FantasyDrama

An exiled magician finds an opportunity for revenge against his enemies muted when his daughter and the son of his chief enemy fall in love in this uniquely structured retelling of the 'The Tempest'.

Flag of USUSFlag of GBGB
Content warning
surrealismmagical realismbased on play or musicalexperimental filmtempest

Standout Aspects

Cinematography

Every frame is a 17th-century painting having an existential crisis.

Acting

Gielgud speaks every line—aging Shakespeare's voice into pure sorcery.

Production

24 simultaneous image layers—Greenaway invented ADHD cinema.

Best for:Solo: At 2am when your brain already feels like soup.·Theater: Projected huge so the naked bodies overwhelm you properly.
Heads up:Sexual Content: Constant nudity: bodies as text, not titillation, but VERY present.
Peter Greenaway

Director

Peter Greenaway

ReleasedAug 30, 1991
Runtime2h 6m
StatusReleased

Vibe

Paceslow
Intensityhigh
Tonedark
Feelheavy
Budget$1.7M·Revenue$1.8M
Allarts
Caméra One

Top Cast

John Gielgud

John Gielgud

Prospero

Michel Blanc

Michel Blanc

Alonso

Erland Josephson

Erland Josephson

Gonzalo

Isabelle Pasco

Isabelle Pasco

Miranda

Tom Bell

Tom Bell

Antonio

Kenneth Cranham

Kenneth Cranham

Sebastian

Mark Rylance

Mark Rylance

Ferdinand

Ute Lemper

Ute Lemper

Ceres

Deborah Conway

Deborah Conway

Juno

Gerard Thoolen

Gerard Thoolen

Adrian

Pierre Bokma

Pierre Bokma

Francisco

Jim van der Woude

Jim van der Woude

Trinculo

Ask about Prospero's Books

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Deep Dive

Trivia, insights & behind the scenes

Trivia

Greenaway made Gielgud record every line in a sound studio first, then lip-synced on set—essentially turning Shakespeare into a music video.

Cultural

This was one of the first digital cinema productions; Greenaway used early Paintbox systems to layer images, essentially predicting Photoshop in 1991.

YouTube

Prospero's Books 1991 Trailer

Prospero's Books 1991 Trailer

Gallery

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