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Tempest

Play trailer Poster for Tempest PG 1982 2h 25m Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
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55% Tomatometer 11 Reviews 73% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
Based on Shakespeare's famed play, this modern update finds American architect Phillip Dimitrius (John Cassavetes) splitting from his wife, Antonia (Gena Rowlands), and relocating to a Greek island. Joining him is his new lover, Aretha Tomalin (Susan Sarandon), and his daughter, Miranda (Molly Ringwald), as well as the island's only other resident, the reclusive Kalibanos (Raul Julia). Eventually more people arrive, and they just happen to be Antonia and her new boyfriend, with his son in tow.
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Tempest

Critics Reviews

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Bob Thomas Associated Press 11/12/2018
Mazursky lets it all run too long, by a half-hour at least, but he also offers a menu of rare delights. Go to Full Review Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times 04/29/2018
0/4
The movie is an ambitious experiment, but a long and tedious one, and our revels end long before Mazursky's. Go to Full Review Molly Haskell Vogue 02/27/2020
Tempest boasts a little Shakespeare, a little Fellini, a lof of Cassavetes, and almost nothing of the Mazursky touch we've come to expect from the director of Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice and An Unmarried Woman. Go to Full Review Diego Galán El Pais (Spain) 08/29/2019
Paul Mazursky's Tempest doesn't develop the dramatic interest of the original idea; it's disorienting and tiresome. [Full Review in Spanish] Go to Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com 06/19/2005
2/5
Jonathan R. Perry Tyler Morning Telegraph (Texas) 06/01/2005
4/5
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Audience Reviews

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06/15/2022 Best film ever, modern version óf Shakespeare's THE TEMPEST, about a successful man experiencing mid-life crisis. Great chemistry that feels real. Filmed in Manhattan, Atlantic City & Greece. See more 11/09/2021 Beautifully shot! Amazing performances. Mesmerizing locations and sets. Very entertaining film. See more Jesse D 07/28/2021 A very boring movie set in beautiful greece and new York See more steve d 07/14/2020 This mix of modern and Shakespeare didn't work for me. See more 06/11/2014 (*** 1/2): [img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/user/icons/icon14.gif[/img] A strangely intriguing film. See more 05/12/2013 A bourgeois, middle-aged New Yorker moves to a Greek island with his daughter to escape the pitfalls of a tepid marriage and the rat wheel of his work. I think the moment that I began to hate Tempest was when Molly Ringwald and Susan Sarandon broke into a rendition of "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?" The song occurs in the middle of a serious argument in which both women are accusing Phillip of enslaving them -- a heavy accusation. While I am all for experimentation, it was director Paul Mazursky's unwillingness or inability to treat any of his characters or their situations with sobriety that finally turned me off of the film. Tempest's relationship with Shakespeare's play is tenuous. Many of the names are similar, but Shakespeare's play is about old age and aging with grace. It was Shakespeare's last play, his swan song, his goodbye to life in the theater because after all, "we are such things as dreams are made on." It's true that Phillip is dealing with the fears of aging, but nothing profound comes out of his disavowal of modern life. The supporting characters are where the film really differs from the play. Kalibanos (nee Caliban) is a horny Greek (Latin?) who is still connected to modernity (unlike his play counterpart). I don't know if Aretha is supposed to be Ariel, but the sexual tension confuses this parallel. Overall, this film isn't just a bad rendition of Shakespeare, it's just a bad film. See more Read all reviews
Tempest

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Cast & Crew

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Paul Mazursky

Director

John Cassavetes

Phillip Dimitrius

Gena Rowlands

Antonia Dimitrius

Susan Sarandon

Aretha

Vittorio Gassman

Alonzo

Raul Julia

Kalibanos

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Tempest

Tempest (1982) Tempest (1982) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Based on Shakespeare's famed play, this modern update finds American architect Phillip Dimitrius (John Cassavetes) splitting from his wife, Antonia (Gena Rowlands), and relocating to a Greek island. Joining him is his new lover, Aretha Tomalin (Susan Sarandon), and his daughter, Miranda (Molly Ringwald), as well as the island's only other resident, the reclusive Kalibanos (Raul Julia). Eventually more people arrive, and they just happen to be Antonia and her new boyfriend, with his son in tow.
Director
Paul Mazursky
Producer
Paul Mazursky
Screenwriter
Leon Capetanos, Paul Mazursky, William Shakespeare
Distributor
Columbia Pictures
Production Co
Columbia Pictures Corporation
Rating
PG
Genre
Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Aug 13, 1982, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
May 25, 2010
Runtime
2h 25m
Sound Mix
Dolby
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