The Tempest (1998) (TV)

Director:

Jack Bender

Writer (WGA):

James S. Henerson (written by)

Release Date:

13 December 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

An adaptation of Shakespeare's classic is set in the Mississippi bayous during the Civil War. |

Plot Keywords:

Beautiful Woman | Military Officer | Teenage Love | Father Daughter Relationship | Shakespeare's The Tempest

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Peter Fonda	...	Gideon Prosper
John Glover	...	Anthony Prosper
Harold Perrineau	...	Ariel
Katherine Heigl	...	Miranda Prosper
John Pyper-Ferguson	...	Gator Man
Eddie Mills	...	Captain Frederick Allen
Dennis Redfield	...	Wilfried 'Willy' Gonzo
Donzaleigh Abernathy	...	Mambo Azaleigh
Jon Huffman	...	General Grant
Tom Nowicki	...	General Sherman
Rhoda Griffis	...	Sophie Dupree
Lonnie Hamilton	...	Old Ariel
Rachel Crouch	...	Young Miranda
Alex Van	...	Lead Raider
Tim Parati	...	Raider

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence.

Runtime:

120 min (including commercials) | Germany:85 min | Argentina:120 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Australia:M | Germany:12 | Germany:16 (video rating) | USA:PG-13 | Argentina:16

Filming Locations:

Charleston, South Carolina, USA

Company:

Bonnie Raskin Productions

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 56th Annual Golden Globe Awards (1999) (TV)

The Tempest

Jack Bender's "The Tempest" is an adaption of Shakespeare's play "The Tempest". Bender transports the plot from medieval Italy to Mississippi during the time of the American civil war. He includes the slavery problem and the role of revenge in wartimes.

Prospero, re-named Gideon Prosper is not the Duke of Milan but a landowner in Mississippi. He learns voodoo magic from the female slave Mambo Azaleigh. He saves her son Ariel, who thus accompanies him into his exile. The island is not situated on the sea but in a swamp near the banks of the Mississippi. There lives an Alligator hunter, a so-called "Gator-Man", who later tries to rape Prospero's daughter Miranda. During the time of the civil war, Ariel wants to join the Union troops to help fighting against slavery. Prospero does not care about the war. He is only interested in his personal revenge on his brother Antony. When Antony and his bookkeeper Willi Gonzo (Gonzalo) try to cross the river, Prospero raises a storm. The Union soldier Frederick gets lost in the swamp and finally comes to the island. He and Miranda fall in love with each other but Prospero won't accept that. Meanwhile, Ariel transformed into a raven by Prospero, finds out that Antony has feigned to ally with the Union but plans to betray them. Antony and Gonzo meet Gator Man in the swamp and conspire with him against Prospero. They kidnap Miranda and Ariel but Prospero freeze them and helps the Union defeat the Southern army. In the end Ariel is free, Frederick and Miranda are bound to marry, Prospero returns to the plantation and Gator Man gets back the island.

Peter Fonda represents Gideon Prosper powerfully and convincingly while the character of Antony stays rather flat. It was no bad idea to perform the Tempest before the background of the civil war but perhaps the director has risked too much. In some parts the story seems constructed or comical. Gator Man for example does just appear without any explanation. That it needs a kidnapping to bring Prospero to his mind and that he loses confidence in his power shows that Bender tried to make Prospero more human but only made him a weak old man without his magic. Prospero's original authority and wisdom is not made clear.

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