 Jesus… where do I start with Tempest?
I mean you are probably familiar with Shakespeare’s
play “The Tempest” right? I mean… you’re
not that uncultured, are you? Good. Great! Now
I can jump right into it.
Successful, world renowned architect Phillip Dimitrius
(John Cassavetes, Rosemary’s Baby)
is going through one hell of a mid-life crisis. He’s
got money, he’s got a great career, he’s got
a lovely wife Antonia (Gena Rowlands, A Woman Under
The Influence) and teenaged daughter Miranda (Molly
Ringwald, The Breakfast Club – here
in her first theatrical role), and he can’t stand
any of it. He’s constantly aloof, feeling frustration
over whatever minor little problems life puts in front
of him. Phillip needs a vacation to sort things out for
sure, but he takes it to the extreme. He leaves his wife,
quits his job and takes his daughter with him to Greece.
Here he meets Aretha Tomalin (Susan Sarandon, The
Rocky Horror Picture Show) a night club singer,
and together the three move to an uninhabited island.
There, things go fairly well for Phillip but tiresome
for the women. Phillip’s love affair with Aretha
is entirely sexless as he chooses celibacy much to her
frustration. Meanwhile, Miranda is going through puberty
and is constantly trying to shun the advances of Kalibanos
(Raul Julia, The Addams Family) a primitive
hired hand that lives in a cave on the island. However,
despite all of this, Antonia has begun seeing Phillip’s
old gangster employer Alonzo (Vittorio Gassman, The
Desert Of The Tartars) and is searching for her “lost” daughter.
After a trip out to sea, a storm (the titular tempest)
causes their ship to sink; stranding the new couple on
the same island that Phillip has inhabited – forcing
them into an odd reunion.
The odes to the play will be completely obvious to those
familiar with it. Phillip = Prospero. Miranda = Miranda.
Kalibanos = Caliban. So they got most of the names right,
if not necessarily their personality traits. Roughly half
of the film is set on an island and it is indeed a tempest
that  brings the characters face-to-face. The story is loosely
similar. But the most important aspect of “The Tempest” is
missing, and that’s the magical element.
Although saying Tempest is lacking magic
itself would be lying, but it’s certainly much more
subdued – even hidden – than the words of Shakespeare
intended. Magic, as a whole, is such an important part
of “The Tempest”, and nearly removing it from
this version in an attempt to make it more realistic actually
ends up removing the film from reality altogether. In Shakespearean
context, the magic element is suitable as “The Tempest” is
an overt fantasy. In this film, most of the events unfold
seemingly by sheer dumb luck which isn’t at all convincing.
At least with “magic” you have an explanation
of sorts. There are trace threads that do leave what you
see happening to the interpretation of the audience. Is
this a dream? Is Phillip dreaming/willing events to happen?
But really, you don’t just have to read between the
lines to see these possibilities, you have to actually
open yourself up to finding them, the ideas don’t
advertise this quite so much.
 The film has a nice script, but it could have been tightened
up and reined in a bit. At pushing nearly two and a half
hours and removing the more linear structure that benefited
the play, at times Tempest can be a chore
to tackle. Thankfully, the film has a strong cast to get
us through this. John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands have
worked together before mostly in some of his own films,
so reuniting them here shows how actors who have experience
with each other can work together effortlessly. Molly Ringwald
is extremely impressive here; especially considering it
was her first film. The late Raul Julia is probably the
most memorable presence, because Kalibanos, while still
obviously sex-starved and without restraint, is shown with
enough development that he’s also quite innocent
and well-meaning. Raul Julia is outstanding as the character
and it’s an absolute joy to watch him play music
for his goats
 Ultimately, Tempest becomes a truly
mixed bag. A great cast and a great story to pull from
somehow doesn’t translate into a great film and I
have two ideas why this is the case. First, the film is
simply too damn long. But I could easily look beyond that
if the ending didn’t wrap up so quickly. The characters,
when they finally come together after the tempest, become
completely unbelievable, dreamlike and almost self-aware.
It would be fine if everything leading up to it wasn’t
so damned serious, but it is. The film flops in its finale,
and that’s the only thing that holds it back from
my recommendation.
Tempest wants so badly to be brilliant,
but it’s much closer to forgettable.
The DVD Presentation
Tempest celebrates its 25th anniversary
this year and to the extent of my knowledge, this is the
film’s first appearance world-wide on the DVD format.
It’s presented here in anamorphic widescreen and
the transfer is acceptable, but little more. While a very
clean image, free of print damage there is a considerable
amount of grain found throughout. The outside scenes seem
to fare the worst which is seemingly typical for 1980s
film stock. The stereo track isn’t going to rock
the house at all, but it sounds very clear with all dialog
easily understandable. Tempest is a subtle
film and has no real special effects. Considering its age
and materials, the audio and video quality on this DVD
is perfectly suitable for the experience the film provides.
 And the Extras Are?
The only feature included on this release is a trailer
gallery, which has trailers for I’ll Do
Anything, Little Women and Stepmom.
At quick glance, I don’t see anything that would
link these films with Tempest, except
that they share some actors.
It’s a shame that there isn’t at least a
trailer for Tempest, because I would love
to see how it was marketed. A commentary would also have
been welcome. This film could use a little explanation.
The Bottom Line
Tempest is not for everyone. It’s
listed as a dramatic comedy (or “dramedy” if
you’re a douchebag) but there certainly isn’t
anything laugh-out-loud funny about it, or even overly
dramatic. I could handle that, but the truly disappointing
thing about this film is that it builds up to nothing.
The resolution is rushed and I don’t really see what
the overall point of the film is. It’s too linear
to be expressionist, but it seems to cull from a lot of
that feeling. Ultimately though, the harshest criticism
I can provide – as well as the most honest – is
that Tempest left me almost completely
unmoved.
Shakespeare this isn’t.
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