Academy award-nominated director Julie Taymor says she’s in the final planning stages for a film version of “The Tempest.” Taymor recently told the Australian newspaper The Age that she hopes to start shooting in November if financing is available. Taymor said, “We’re at that last horrible moment when we don’t have quite enough money.”
Taymor made her feature film directorial debut in 1999 with “Titus,” based on “Titus Andronicus.” The film starred Anthony Hopkins as Titus and Jessica Lange as Tamora. Since Titus, Taymor has directed “Frida” in 2002 and “Across the Universe” in 2007. Taymor received an Academy Award nomination for her work on “Frida.”
Taymor has directed “The Tempest” on stage twice. Her 1986 production was filmed by WNET-TV in New York and shown on American public television. For the new film, however, Taymor has a gender-bending twist in mind. She told The Age, “In my version, Helen Mirren will play Prospera — the gender has been switched. It’s one of those Shakespeare plays in which such a change is not for the worst, but brings a whole lot more to its depth.”
Explaining her thinking behind this twist, Taymor said, “It goes back to the 16th or 17th century, and women practicing magical arts of alchemy, who were often convicted of witchcraft. In my version, Prospera is usurped by her brother and sent off with her-four-year daughter on a ship. She ends up on an island; it’s a tabula rasa: no society, so the mother figure becomes a father figure to Miranda. You have the power struggle and balance between Caliban and Prospero; it’s not about brawn, but about intellect.” (Read the complete Age article)
Taymor recently discussed her approach to directing with The Aspen Times. She said, “I think when you’re a director, you’re finding a visual metaphor for what you’re doing.” Taymor also explained part of her attraction to adapting the bard for film, saying, “Shakespeare is so visual.” Taymor hasn’t revealed, however, what visual metaphor she has chosen for her film version of “The Tempest.” (Read the complete Aspen Times article)
Thanks to Ken in Albuquerque for this news tip.
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