Tempest (1982)

A sobering mid-life crisis fuels dissatisfaction in Philip Dimitrius, to the extent where the successful architect trades his marriage and career in for a spiritual exile on a remote Greek ... See full summary »

Director:

Paul Mazursky

Writers:

Leon Capetanos, Paul Mazursky

Stars:

John Cassavetes, Gena Rowlands, Sergio Nicolai

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 2 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sergio Nicolai	...	First Sailor
Luigi Laezza	...	Second Sailor
Vassilis Glezakos	...	Greek Boat Captain
Lucianne Buchanan	...	Dolores
Jerry Hardin	...	Harry
Anthony Holland	...	Sebastian
Jackie Gayle	...	Trinc
Paul Stewart	...	Phillip's Father
Sam Robards	...	Freddy
Molly Ringwald	...	Miranda
Raul Julia	...	Kalibanos
Vittorio Gassman	...	Alonzo
Susan Sarandon	...	Aretha
Gena Rowlands	...	Antonia
John Cassavetes	...	Phillip

Storyline

A sobering mid-life crisis fuels dissatisfaction in Philip Dimitrius, to the extent where the successful architect trades his marriage and career in for a spiritual exile on a remote Greek island where he hopes to conjure meaning into his life - trying the patience of his new girlfriend and angst-ridden teenage daughter.

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Plot Keywords:

remote | daughter | greek island | marriage | island | 

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Taglines:

Most men dream their fantasies. Phillip decided to live his.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy | Romance

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Movie Channel [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Greek

Release Date:

24 September 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

Paul Mazursky's Tempest

Filming Locations:

Athens, Greece

Box Office

Budget:

$13,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

142 min (Ontario)

Sound Mix:

Dolby 70 mm 6-Track

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Star Billing: John Cassavetes (1st), Gena Rowlands (2nd), Susan Sarandon (3rd), Vittorio Gassman (4th), Raul Julia (5th), Molly Ringwald (6th) and Sam Robards (7th).

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Goofs

When a helicopter lands in Manhattan, in the last scene of the film, Philip steps out with a haircut in continuity with the early part of the story, set "18 months ago". Since the time on the island takes place 18 months later, over a 24 hour cycle, his hair should be short and gray when he lands, instead of longer and darker.

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Quotes

Kalibanos: My Bonny Johnny dance in my pants!

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Connections

Features Gunsmoke (1955)

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Soundtracks

New York, New York
Written by John Kander and Fred Ebb
Performed by Liza Minnelli, danced by Raul Julia and his goats
Courtesy of United Artists Records
Special Thanks to Liza Minnelli

User Reviews

A Flawed Masterpiece

"Tempest" is a somewhat self-indulgent, uneven, discursive movie. But as Lord Byron, another visitor to Greece, protested to his friend John Murray about his similarly self-indulgent and discursive "Don Juan," "It may be profligate but is it not life, is it not the thing?"

The connections to Shakespeare's "Tempest" may seem, as another commentator here claims, a bit tenuous. But watch the film again after re-reading "The Tempest," and they'll seem far closer. What makes this film flawed is its uneasy mixture of straightforward normal narrative and sudden jarring apparent improvisation, particularly between Cassavetes and Rowland. But to be honest, these scenes are the most remarkable and gripping in the film, if the hardest to watch.

The music of this film, composed by Stomu Yamashta, is also overlooked. Particularly fine is the perfect little piece played to accompany the afternoon siesta, as people, animals, and seemingly the entire island collapse to sleep away the hottest part of the afternoon. It's a sublime moment, and representative of the best aspect of this movie and the one thing that keeps it somewhat unified, the fact that (aside from extensive flashbacks and the very end) it is the story of one day on an island, from awakening to night.

Overall, I'd rather watch this film a hundred times than see some bombastic Hollywood piece of crap once. And in fact, I probably have watched it several dozen times. Most times, I see something I missed before.

(Confession: I'm biased. This was the second movie I took my Greek-American goddess wife to see.)

Trivia notes on this flick:

• It was Molly Ringwald's first movie, as well as Sam Robards';

• It was actually not filmed on an island, but in Gytheion, the

southern tip of the remote Mani peninsula of the Peloponnesus of Greece;

• The (by today's standards) primitive special effects were done by

Bran Ferren, who later became head of Disney Imagineering, and still later was an adviser to the US intelligence community;

• Paul Mazursky, the director, chose the title of his recent

autobiography, "Show Me the Magic," from the script of "Tempest."