Rev Stan's film blog

Ben Whishaw news that made me squeal with delight

Well he's done Ariel in The Tempest and Hamlet on stage but there are two other Shakespearean characters that I'd love Ben Whishaw to take on: Iago in Othello (would be great to see him play a baddie) and Richard II the King brought down in part by his own arrogance.

And so imagine my delight when this story pops up on my google alerts this morning that he is indeed to take on the role on the small screen in a BBC co-production directed by Rupert Goold who has been doing amazing things at the RSC.

To add to the excitement Rory Kinnear, who recently impressed as Hamlet at the National Theatre will play Bolingbroke who brings about Richard's downfall. It will reunite the two actors who worked together on Hamlet at the Old Vic (Kinnear played Laertes).

Now I would rather see it on stage as Shakespeare is a difficult genre to make work on screen but I'm not going to complain and it is the BBC who tend to be pretty good at these things.  The BBC connection also means I won't be waiting two years to see it after production finishes, as was the case with The Tempest.

I feel like all my birthdays have come at once. *applauds while jumping up and down like a five year old*

Twinkle, twinkle little Tempest?

Anyone who has happened upon this blog before will know that as an appreciator of Ben Whishaw's work, Julie Taymor's The Tempest, in which he plays Ariel, has been a long time coming. It finished filming back in 2008 but didn't hit the screens here in London until this week.

It not only brings together Mr Whishaw with a Shakespeare play I'm very fond of but also a cast list that bulges with talent (Helen Mirren and Alfred Molina), curiosities (Russel Brand and Alan Cumming) and beauties (Felicity Jones and Reeve Carney).

And of course Taymor who isn't shy of visualisation, quirkiness and colour in her films. But did all the talent shine?

Well, The Tempest was one of my A-level set texts so it's a story I'm quite familiar with: Prospero, the Duke of Milan is deposed by his brother and set adrift in a boat with his young daughter Miranda. But for a few provisions smuggled aboard by loyal courtier Gonzalo the two would have died but wash up on a strange and magical island.

Prospero is a bit of a magician himself and years later when fate puts a ship carrying his brother, the King of Naples and his son Ferdinand on a path close to the island he can't resist but conjure a storm. With the help of his spirit Ariel the ship is wrecked and the passengers scattered along the shore about the island.

Ferdinand washes up on his own, the courtiers in another group and two servants of the King of Naples - Trinculo and Stephano in another.

Prospero sets Ariel to work engineering a series of events that will enact revenge but ultimately put right everything that has happened in the past. Of course this is Shakespeare so there is a comic thread, a romance and a bit of politics and plotting thrown in.

Diego Luna's Abel

Little Gael Garcia Bernal's fellow actor, countryman and, I believe, good friend Diego Luno is forging a career as a director and Abel is his third time behind the lense.

As finished product Abel is very polished and shows that Luna is certainly beyond acting. And it is an interesting story (in part inspired by seeing Ben Whishaw play Hamlet no less).

Abel, a young boy, is returning home after a spell in a psychiatric hospital where he was admitted after have some sort of breakdown which resulted in his refusing to speak when his father left. Arriving home with his mother he is reunited with his older sister and younger brother but remains mute.

His doctor wants to send him to another hospital much further away but his mother is reluctant because of the distance. An incident in a playground in which Abel observes a father interacting with his son seems to awaken something inside him.

He starts to speak but he speaks as if he is a father. So surprised by this turnaround in his behaviour his mother convinces his siblings to play along.

Is there no end to Ben Whishaw's talent?

Just bought the soundtrack for The Tempest (well I've got to have something to keep me going for the next three months) and Mr W sings on two tracks. Yes, he sings too and he doesn't sound half bad either.

Am loving mixture of rocky guitars and more traditional classical on the soundtrack. It's very atmospheric.

 

Download 09 Where the Bee Sucks

 

Download 04 Full Fathom Five

For fellow sad The Tempest fans, the films facebook page seems to have an interesting stream of pics and videos to whet your appetite (if you haven't seen it yet) or remind you of it (if you have).

 

 

 

Ben Whishaw/Helen Mirren clip from The Tempest

You know this is going to go on until well into March next year don't you? (Oh and here's a link to the official website. Lots of dramatic music but not much else really)

 

And if that wasn't enough, here's a short 'making of The Tempest' video

Thanks to one of my fav Ben Whishaw sites for sourcing this via Trailer Addict

 

Right I'm going to stop now otherwise I'll never be able to sleep tonight.

Another tantalising pic of Ben Whishaw as Ariel (and a UK release date, eek!)

Found this one here.

And with The Tempest premiering in LA this week there is finally a release date for the UK: March 4. Counting the days already.

Another pic of Ben Whishaw as Ariel (and some TV news)

I only go away for a week and there is all sorts of exciting news about Mr W (thanks to @polyg for texting me to let me know). After a dry period of project announcements he's finally found something to sink his acting teeth into: The Hour. It is the BBC's answer to Mad Men (apparently), only set in a 1950s London newsroom and has a pretty starry cast that includes Romala Garai and Dominic West, who I last saw on stage at the Donmar earlier this year.

Naturally I'm very excited and will be doing everything I can to discover where filming is taking place in the capital. I've got three months to crack it.

Anyway another little morsel of delight I came back to was this picture of Mr W as Ariel in The Tempest which I found over at aceshowbiz.com. There is a bulging bag of other stills from the film on their site too.  Am loving Ben's moobs and the long blond hair.

Still no UK release date though.

The Tempest trailer (with some bits of Ariel)

Finally not just a picture or a tantalising clip but a proper trailer. Ben Whishaw's Ariel looks as intrigueing as ever. And I love the fact that he gets an 'And Ben Whishaw' in the trailer. Very excited (again).

The Tempest Trailer
Uploaded by teasertrailer. - Full seasons and entire episodes online. 

Clips of The Tempest emerge - and yes they include a glimpse of Ben

Thanks to yetanotherbenwhishaw blog for alerting me to this. It's a BBC piece on Helen Mirren at the Venice Film festival and includes some tantalising clips of Julie Taymor's The Tempest including one or two glimpses of Ben Whishaw's Ariel.

You can view it here on bleedingcool.com

I'm intrigued by the two sides of Ariel they show. From what I remember of the play - it's been a few years since I saw it on stage - Ariel can be all sweetness and subservience towards Prospero but has a bitter, angry side having been bound to him for so long. The clip shows hints of this duality, of course in Taymor's interpretation, Prospero becomes Helen Mirren's Prospera. I also like the way she's played up the sorcerer/ess side of Propero/a.

Unfortunately it doesn't appear to be showing at the London Film Festival, unless it turn out to be the mystery film, so I'm left waiting for a UK release date and I'm not hopeful of anything this side of Christmas.