Julie Taymor has been speed tracking her work to get her film released before the Venice Film Festival. It will be opening the festival on September 11, 2010. The Tempest stars Helen Mirren, Russell Brand, Djimon Hounson, David Strathairn, Chris Cooper, Alan Cumming and Ben Wishaw. It will be screened out of competition. But with a cast like that it surely should not be missed.
Here is a synopsis Heyuguys.
Synopsis: In Julie Taymor’s version of ‘The Tempest,’ the gender of Prospero has been switched to Prospera. Going back to the 16th or 17th century, women practicing the magical arts of alchemy were often convicted of witchcraft. In Taymor’s 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. This leads to the power struggle and balance between Caliban and Prospera; a struggle not about brawn, but about intellect.
The Tempest will be adapted from William Shakespeare famous play. Julie Taymor wrote the script and directed the film. The Tempest is going to be something. It will be out in US in December 2010.