The Tempest (1998 film)

*The Tempest*
The Tempest
Based on	The Tempest; by William Shakespeare
Directed by	Jack Bender
Starring	Peter Fonda
Music by	Terence Blanchard
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Executive producers	Jack Bender; Bonnie Raskin
Producer	James Bigwood
Cinematography	Steve Shaw
Editor	Stephen Lovejoy
Running time	85 minutes
Production companies	Bonnie Raskin Productions; NBC Studios
Original release
Release	December 13, 1998

The Tempest is a 1998 American drama television film directed by Jack Bender. It is a modernized adaptation of the William Shakespeare play The Tempest set in Mississippi during the American Civil War starring Peter Fonda as Gideon Prosper, a character based on Shakespeare's Prospero.

Plot

Gideon Prosper, a Southern enslaver, is forced off his plantation by his younger brother Anthony before the American Civil War's outbreak. Surviving in the Mississippi bayou, Prosper uses magic that he learned from one of the people he enslaved to protect his teenage daughter and to assist the Union.

Cast

Peter Fonda as Gideon Prosper
John Glover as Anthony Prosper
Harold Perrineau as Ariel
Katherine Heigl as Miranda Prosper
John Pyper-Ferguson as Gator Man
Eddie Mills as Captain Frederick Allen
Dennis Redfield as Wilfried "Willy" Gonzo
Donzaleigh Abernathy as Mambo Azaleigh
Jon Huffman as General Grant
Tom Nowicki as General Sherman
Rhoda Griffis as Sophie Dupree
Lonnie Hamilton as Old Ariel
Rachel Crouch as Young Miranda
Alex Van as Lead Raider
Tim Parati as Raider
Charles Lawlor as General Pemberton
David Dwyer as Sheriff
Rob Treveiler as Union Sentry
Roby Pettit as Picket #2
Maxwell Bruce as Bluecoat
Bill Gribble as Scout
James Bigwood as Lieutenant
Steve Coulter as Lewis
Ethan Jensen as Picket
Dallas Miller as Field Slave
Don Shanks as Overseer
Gary Dow as Grant's Sergeant Major
Rick Lundin as Possee Member
Adrienne Reynolds as Delia
John Laporte as Surgeon
Patricia Buckley-Moss as Dancer
Mark Miller as Union Soldier
Diedra Orhant (stand-in for Katherine Heigl)
Johnny W. Wilbans as 2nd Union Sentry

Production

Filming took place at Cypress Gardens, and other locations in, and around, Charleston, South Carolina.^[1]

Broadcast

The film was broadcast on NBC at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Sunday, December 13, 1998.^[2]

Reception

In his 2001 book Shakespeare in the Movies: From the Silent Era to Today, author Douglas Brode wrote, "Jack Bender's film emerged as yet another offbeat variation on Will's theme, but with the Bard's immortal poetry entirely excised."^[3]

In a negative review for the Los Angeles Times, reviewer Daryl H. Miller wrote, "A miscalculation of epic proportions, this revision of one of the Bard's masterworks is at times laugh-out-loud awful, at times offensive."^[4]

In a negative review for People, reviewer Terry Kelleher wrote, "The low-key style that served Fonda so well in his Oscar-nominated Ulee's Gold role doesn't work for Prosper/Prospero, who needs a charisma that the actor can't provide. The script gives Fonda two lines of actual Shakespeare at the end, and we admit he seems less than comfortable with the language."^[2]

In a review for Variety, reviewer Laura Fries wrote, "What makes this production universally appealing is that it lacks the pretenses that usually come with a literary-based telepic. Writer James Henerson plays on such '90s issues as lost faith, selfishness, vengeance and loyalty to propel this Civil War-era saga."^[5]