The Tempest

Filmed at Canada's 2010 Stratford Shakespeare Festival, director McAnuff's haunting take on The Tempest employs ten cameras to capture both the dark undertones of this revenge tale and the outstanding individual performances of Christopher Plummer as Prospero and Julyana Soelistyo as his servant and muse Ariel. Plummer dominates the stage, embodying a character bent on vengeance but wise enough to forgive his adversaries once his plan to link his daughter, Miranda, to Ferdinand, the prince of Naples, progresses successfully. Most compelling about McAnuff's version are the lighting and costumes: Ariel appears as an androgynous blue, nearly translucent, purveyor of Prospero's machinations, commanding Prospero's enemies in massive feathered wings. Caliban, who seeks to undercut Prospero's power, is costumed as a scaled, bicolored lizard that slinks across the stage. Shot in the round, the production is enhanced by lightning strikes that reveal the players to be encircled by the audience, an eerie effect that leaves the film viewer feeling paradoxically part of and detached from the transpirations. Bonus features include a postproduction interview with McAnuff and Plummer.