Then there's the weird stuff...

[jducoeur]

Along the way, while disposing of the videotapes, I'm transcribing to DVD anything that I think is at all interesting that isn't easily available on DVD. Note that that's "interesting", not necessarily "good".

Every time I think that I remember how truly strange Prospero's Books is, I watch a little of it again and am proven wrong. Utterly impenetrable -- artistry carried through to its completely ridiculous extreme. Fascinating in very small quantities, but I've never even come close to sitting through this hybrid of Shakespeare and performance art...

Comments

[oakleaf-mirror.livejournal.com]

I saw it in the theatre when it first came out. On leaving the theatre, the guy I was with asked me what I thought. My response was "Reeeeal different." He replied with "Um, yeah, that's a start."

I later described it to someone as "It opens with Sir John Gielgud standing naked in a Romanesque bath, declaiming a narrative, while cherubs on swings urinate into the water near him. And then it gets odd, and hard to explain."

Then again, I know someone who lists it as one of her favourite movies of all time.

Nice Distiction, there.

[pamelina.livejournal.com]

It was visually and auditorily interesting, but had no story and no plot and twisted Shakespeare into a knot. I remember being indignant.