Can you imagine being put on island with only you and minimal other people? Who is going to be the ruler? Who is going to be the teacher? Where would all of you find food? And—for most people—the most important thing: what will be the source of income? All of these questions would run through the mind of stranded people. This isn’t the main dilemma in The Tempest, but it is what comes to my mind.
The play and the movie have different plots. The main character in the movie is Phillip. He went to an island to get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. So he took off to Greece with his daughter Miranda and a woman he met, Aretha. They soon flee to this island in hopes of Phillip keeping his daughter Miranda. She doesn’t want to go back and live with her mom, since her mom has a new man in her life. Later in the story, the people Phillip is trying to avoid become shipwrecked on his island. Phillip has the option to leave them be or go rescue them, and he goes to rescue them. Then there comes the infamous question, who’s the boss? Phillip thinks that he is, but he really has no idea how to run an island with people on it.
Prospero has a different story, though. He was put on an island by his brother Antonio, where he and his daughter were banished. They were on the island for 12 years. Prospero was stuck on his ideals and wanted what he wanted and nothing more; therefore, he didn’t believe that anyone else should have an opinion.
In my opinion the movie portrays a better story line. Although it was still confusing at times, it was less confusing than the play. Mazursky’s version of Tempest was actually a good movie, even down to the blonde bimbo talking about what our destiny should be. Mazursky was intense with this story. Phillip’s rescuing of the shipwrecked people spoke to me. After everything that had happened between Phillip and his estranged wife Antonia, he still went to help them. After they got nestled into the island life, Phillip went to contemplate by himself in his room. I think that his true feat in this movie was forgiveness. He thought about what all had happened while he was on the island and the ironic situation of his ex becoming shipwrecked on his island, and forgave all of them. He then went down and joined the party with everyone. The next day they all were homeward bound, Phillip and Antonia back together. Phillip learned valuable information while he was on that island, one of those lessons being forgiveness. He learned to forgive and let go of the past, which a lot of people these days still don’t know how to do.
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