On the other hand, Mazursky uses setting and conflict just as competently as Shakespeare does but does so in a much different way. Already suffering from mid-life crisis in which he feels as if he has lost all control of his life, the films protagonist, Phillip, catches his boss courting his wife. This incident pushes Phillip “over the edge” driving him to voluntarily leave the country and eventually to settle on a desolate island. Conflict on Mazursky’s island is offered in the form of Phillip, his daughter, and girlfriend, adjusting to their new lives on the island as well as Phillips power over them. This island works well for this particular story because it allows Phillip to run away from his problems only to realize that over time he has become what he ran away from: an ambitious control freak. The audience sees the transformation when Phillip conjures a powerful and dramatic storm that nearly drowns all of his former friends. Mazursky’s interpretation of The Tempest is successful because it presents a modern day depiction of the human experience in a way that is just as compelling and thought provoking as Shakespeare’s Tempest.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
The Tempest: The Importance of Setting by Rob North
Drama can be defined as tension. In the context of a play or film, drama means that the audience is expecting something to happen between two characters that are experiencing tension with each other. Shakespeare, in The Tempest, and Mazursky, in his film adaptation of The Tempest, expertly use conflict and setting to convey drama to the audience. The audience is introduced to the theme of conflict in the form of a flashback. “… did Antonio open The gates of Milan, and, I’th’ dead of darkness, The ministers for th’ purpose hurried Thence Me … they hurried us onto a ship and carried us a number of miles out to sea…”(1.2.150-153,169-170). Here, Prospero is telling his daughter, Miranda, the sordid tale of how they came to be on the island and why he whipped up the tempest to exact revenge upon his brother Antonio. What better way is there to set up an audience’s expectation of conflict than tensions between two ambitious brothers? The island, as a setting, is critical to both the plot and major conflicts presented by Shakespeare. The island magnifies the conflict and brings everyone’s true colors to the surface. One could say the island “ups the ante” for potential violent conflict as some of the inhabitants set eyes on new opportunities because of being stranded on the island. An example would be Antonio, who is meant to represent the evils of human ambition, plots to kill Gonzalo so that he may be next in line to inherit the throne of Naples. “Draw together. And when I rear my hand, do you the like. To fall it on Gonzalo” (2.1.337-339). Ultimately, Antonio fails in his plot to kill Gonzalo but Shakespeare has successfully brought the audience to “the edge of its seat” in anticipation.
On the other hand, Mazursky uses setting and conflict just as competently as Shakespeare does but does so in a much different way. Already suffering from mid-life crisis in which he feels as if he has lost all control of his life, the films protagonist, Phillip, catches his boss courting his wife. This incident pushes Phillip “over the edge” driving him to voluntarily leave the country and eventually to settle on a desolate island. Conflict on Mazursky’s island is offered in the form of Phillip, his daughter, and girlfriend, adjusting to their new lives on the island as well as Phillips power over them. This island works well for this particular story because it allows Phillip to run away from his problems only to realize that over time he has become what he ran away from: an ambitious control freak. The audience sees the transformation when Phillip conjures a powerful and dramatic storm that nearly drowns all of his former friends. Mazursky’s interpretation of The Tempest is successful because it presents a modern day depiction of the human experience in a way that is just as compelling and thought provoking as Shakespeare’s Tempest.
On the other hand, Mazursky uses setting and conflict just as competently as Shakespeare does but does so in a much different way. Already suffering from mid-life crisis in which he feels as if he has lost all control of his life, the films protagonist, Phillip, catches his boss courting his wife. This incident pushes Phillip “over the edge” driving him to voluntarily leave the country and eventually to settle on a desolate island. Conflict on Mazursky’s island is offered in the form of Phillip, his daughter, and girlfriend, adjusting to their new lives on the island as well as Phillips power over them. This island works well for this particular story because it allows Phillip to run away from his problems only to realize that over time he has become what he ran away from: an ambitious control freak. The audience sees the transformation when Phillip conjures a powerful and dramatic storm that nearly drowns all of his former friends. Mazursky’s interpretation of The Tempest is successful because it presents a modern day depiction of the human experience in a way that is just as compelling and thought provoking as Shakespeare’s Tempest.
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