The Tempest (2010) | Forbidden Planet | Yellow Sky | Ex Machina
Normally I try to watch these in chronological order, but I figured I should start with the most straightforward version first.
The Tempest (2010), 18 February 2022, streamed via Prime Video
Director Julie Taymor has a track record of dreamy, striking work: Frida, Across the Universe, and Broadway's The Lion King. So I don't know if this is a particularly unique take of the play, but it certainly is a pretty one. Also, Helen Mirren plays Prospera, which does put a different feel to her previous persecution. ("His sister, a practicer of the black arts. A demon, not a woman, nay--a witch! And he, fully-knowing others of my sex are burned for no less!") On the other hand, Felicity Jones as naive, teenage Miranda? Srsly?
The shipwrecked Italians are an impressive roster: David Strathaim, Alan Cumming, Chris Cooper, Tom Conti, Alfred Molina, Russell Brand. They are, though, generally not too visually striking, design-wise. I mean, besides Brand's Trinculo--weirdly highlighted by a Pink Panther-like score shift when he shows up.
Ben Whishaw as Ariel is appropriately fey, if not quite delicate enough to seem browbeatable. The scene where Prospera scolds Ariel for not being grateful enough is weird. Otherwise: The scenes where Ariel's doing a series of interpretive dances aren't bad, but hoo boy, the special effects for his magicking, wow.
Uh, did nobody mention that having Caliban played by the only Black man (or, indeed, of any color) is a really, really bad look? Like, Djimon Hounsou is as good as always, but ooooof, with the costuming especially. (And given Prospera's textually faithful habit of calling Ariel and Caliban "slave," well. Lord.)
The romance of Miranda and Ferdinand remains a level of boring reminiscent of department store perfume ads. Though Prospera urging Miranda to chase this random dude feels more Jane Austeny than, like, pimping out the kid to get her dukedom back.
Forbidden Planet, 01 March 2022, streamed via Prime Video
It turns out you can watch this movie and it's not available solely with Rifftrax. (MST3K hasn't done it either, which seems…wrong?) That said, this film is way NOT campy, somehow--meaning the actors, as far as I can perceive, are playing things relatively sincerely. Anyway, a crew of stalwart men are heading towards a planet where once there was a crash. Leslie Nielsen, playing Commander Adams, leads them and I almost didn't recognize him.
Dr Edward Morbius is our Prospero and his daughter Altaira is our Miranda. Robby the Robot is, I guess, Caliban? Maybe also Ariel? Anyway, Morbius says the other 19 people in the crash all died. Alas.
One of the officers (I legit cannot tell all these brown-haired, lantern-jawed men apart) tries to romance Altaira and, hilariously, she declares his kisses altogether lacking in stimulation. Then Adams straight-up NEGS Altaira for wearing beguiling clothing to tempt men, ughhhhhhhhhhhhh. He actually starts up with some, "It would have served you right if--" and thankfully he cuts himself off because I would have dived through the screen and back in time to throttle the dude.
Alas, the negging works. For some reason, though, Morbius seems to find this promising. Meanwhile, he takes Adams and the ship's medic to his laboratory--which houses a fairly large collection of doodads and databanks left by the advanced alien race, the Krell, who are…extinct? Or have ascended? Something like that. Some impressive (?) science (?) happens. Elsewhere, the ship's cook has Robby churning out some bourbon. And some invisible beastie is slaughtering people--the same one that killed all those folks from the original crash.
Those 1956 special effects sure are somethin'.
"Monsters from the id." The monster is Morbius's subconscious! Alack! Woe! The end has come!
Yellow Sky, 13 March 2022, streamed via YouTube
What if The Tempest was a Western? It actually makes a bit of sense--Tempest is very much an, "A stranger comes to town," sort of narrative. And that Gregory Peck was a handsome 'un, wasn't he? As "Stretch," he leads a band o' bank robbers and ends up running into the desert. They wander, dehydrated for a while, until they come upon the town, Yellow Sky.
Our Prospero is an old prospector, living with his granddaughter, Mike. He tells Peck that Mike was raised by Apaches--oh, hey, remember how Ariel and Caliban are disturbing representations of Other? Here their role is played by a roving Apache band. Sigh.
The band o' outlaws bully Mike into sharing food with them. Also: Creepy as hell when the entire gang o' outlaws leer at her while she goes about her day. She walks around with a revolver strapped to her hip and, at one point, lays out Peck with an impressive right hook.
Having a Miranda more inclined to murder a dude than marry him is pleasing. I mean, Peck eventually knocks her over and kisses her, "to show you how safe you'd be if I decided to get rough," like, WHAT THE HELL, dude. She shoots at him, purposefully grazing him and, uh, then they fall in love? His "playful" assault awoke feelings in her that she couldn't understand? I don't want to talk about it.
The outlaws grow convinced that Mike's grandfather is hiding a gold mine from them. There's a shootout and Grandpa gets shot in the leg. Mike is pretty vehement about her grandfather not telling the outlaws about whatever gold they assume he's hiding, but Grandpa relents. There's some scuffling when one of the outlaws assaults Mike, though one of the nicer guys saves her. (Coming in after the fact, Stretch kicks the ruffian in the face and tells Mike, "Stop swinging your hips all over the place," OH MY GOD.) When the local Apaches pass through, Grandpa makes a deal with Stretch to keep quiet if they can split the gold. More scuffling happens eventually, and Stretch ends up on the side of the angels (I guess) when the creepers of the gang turn on him.
Anyway, there's another shootout and the creepers are dispatched. Stretch and his close buddies end up returning the money they stole from the bank, then return to Yellow Sky and Mike and her grandfather. The end, I guess.
Ex Machina, 14 March 2022, streamed via Prime Video
In this near-future iteration of The Tempest, we've got Poe Dameron, who plays Nathan Bateman, tech genius and resident Prosper. General Hux Domhnall Gleeson plays Caleb Smith, hapless tech flunkie and stand-in for hapless Italian dudes. Lara Croft Alicia Vikander plays Ava, an android who may or may not want to be a real girl. I guess she's Miranda? Sonoya Mizuno plays Kyoko, an uncomfortably exoticized staffer, so I GUESS we need to ONCE AGAIN point out how the enslaved denizens of the island stand in for the Other?
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Smith's been beckoned to an undisclosed research facility to "bond" with his great-great-great-great grandboss and, it turns out, trying to find out if android Ava passes the Turing test (AKA can this AI pass for a sentient being). It isn't very long before it feels more like Ava is trying the Turing test out on Smith.
This is an intensely claustrophobic film--most of the interior sets are window-less, with opaque or transparent walls, which you'd think would make things feel more open, but instead makes it seem like they're all wandering through a labyrinth of terrariums. At odd times, the power will cut out, locking every door and turning the lights red--and with the surveillance cut off, Ava's entire demeanor changes. And underneath most every scene is a light, staccato thrum, like a white noise heartbeat.
It's creepy as helllllll. But also: Search engines aren't a manifestation of what people are thinking, they're revelations of how people are thinking. Ooof.
In case it was not clear yet, The Tempest is deeply, deeply disturbing upon even a cursory analysis.
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