Review of Prosperos Books When adapting a play for the screen, a directors primary responsibility is to visualize an enactment that remains true to the original works perception. In addition to this task, the director must also build upon the foundations laid by the script; without this goal, (s)he would have no reason to have undertaken the project in the first place. Providing an innovative reading of a well-known play is undoubtedly a challenging task, but few directors have met the challenge so successfully as Peter Greenaway in Prosperos Books, an adaptation of Shakespeares play The Tempest. Greenways most compelling accomplishment in the film is his elegant rendering of the plays theme of the artist as a creator. Prosperos Books, as well as the original The Tempest, is an exercise in artificiality, genesis, and performance. Rather than presenting a realistic interpretation of The Tempest, Prosperos Books relies on imaginative artistic alchemy. The film revolves on the image of Prospero in his library; he is seated, framed by books, and surrounded by spirits. In this ornate setting, he inscribes The Tempest onto the manuscript while simultaneously performing the piece for the audience. Many of the scenes take place in his imagination, while others occur in the surreal palace around him. This impossible setting is full of dancing spirits, shimmering pools of water, monsters, and mountains of books. The palace appears to be analogous to Prosperos mind; certainly, the film is independent of the workings of the real world. This fantastical existence is a labyrinth of memory and evolving reality, which transforms in order to accommodate Prosperos desires. While Prosperos dramatic vision is certainly the most apparent example of artistry in Prosperos Books, Peter Greenaway himself takes extensive liberties with Shakespeares story in order to present himself as a master filmmaker. In the opening scene, Greenaway demonstrates...
