Conjuring The Tempest : Derek Jarman and the spectacle of redemption

J. Ellis

Jarman's film version of Shakespeare's play The Tempest is notable for a number of things: his unusual and controversial casting choices, especially with respect to race; his radical paring down and rearrangement of the text, following William S. Burroughs cut-up technique; and the penultimate scene of the film, which moves the masque out of act 4 and makes it the climax of the drama. These three elements of the film, the author argues, relates to the film's critique of contemporary English society.