Touchstone Pictures releases this sex-change version of Shakespeare’s play (which famously served as inspiration for the 1956 science fiction classic FORBIDDEN PLANET). The story has the rightful duchess of Milan (a duke in the original) exiled to an island with her daughter. As fate would have it, a tempest shipwreck the enemies of Prospera (Helen Mirren) on the island, allowing the scholar to use her knowledge, which borders on the magical, to even the score. Julie Taymor (ACROSS THE UNIVERSE) directs from her screenplay adaptation. The costars include Felicity Jones as Miranda, David Strathairn as King Alonso, Tom Conti as Gonzalo, Chris Cooper as Antonio, Alfred Molina as Stephano, and Djimon Hounsou in the plum role of Caliban. Unfortunately, advance word from festival screenings has not been positive.
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