December 11, 2009
It is a great Movie, what is wrong with you guys?
John Gielgud,
Michael Clark,
Michel Blanc,
Erland Josephson,
Isabelle Pasco
... see more 
Puzzle-master Peter Greenaway exposes another aspect of his peculiar obsessions to the filmgoing public. Prospero's Books uses Shakespeare as a foundation and then skips along to define its own lush t... read more
DVD Release Date: October 22, 1992
Stats: 169 reviews
Your Rating
Flixster Reviews (169)
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January 15, 2009Greenaway brings his pattened style to this tale set in Machievelli's Milan. The visuals are quite compelling but the story drags in places. The theatrical side of the director just could not say no to monologues from Gielgud.
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January 15, 2008Sir John Gielgud was one of the 20 greatest actors in history, cinematic or on stage. Worth a viewing.
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July 24, 2007beautiful movie to watch, gielgud is wonderful. plus lots of naked people! over the top at time and quite slow, but as usual beautifully detailed and fascinating
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May 30, 2007The cook, the thief, his wife, and the cast of Oh, Calcutta. Listening to Gielgud is the only pleasure.
Critic Reviews
July 3, 2008
Variety Staff, Variety
July 3, 2008
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
Gone is any sense of drama or character; the cluttered spectacle yields no overriding design but simply disconnected MTV-like conceits or mini-ideas every three seconds. Full Review
May 20, 2003
Vincent Canby, New York Times
Greenaway is not a frivolous film maker. He doesn't shoot a lot of material with the expectation of stumbling upon a found object within. His films are planned from the first frame to the last. Full Review
May 12, 2001
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
Greenaway bombards you with images, with no regard for the average attention span. Is he a genius or a fake? Debating that question is almost as stimulating as watching a Greenaway film.
January 1, 2000
Hal Hinson, Washington Post
Prospero's Books references the masterpieces of the past in a manner that antagonizes our pleasure in the arts rather than enhancing it. Full Review
January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
It is simply a work of original art, which Greenaway asks us to accept or reject on his own terms. Full Review
July 3, 2008
TV Guide's Movie Guide
Does it work? That depends on whether you find Greenaway's elaborate visual conceits and rarified narrative structures daring and liberating, or boringly self-indulgent. Full Review
July 3, 2008
Film4
Lubricious biblophilia rubbing up against a warehouse of naked extras, this Shakespearean adaptation is, in many ways, the epitome of cinematic pretension. Full Review
August 29, 2007
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
It cries out to not only be heard but be seen for what it wishes to convey about the act of creativity. Full Review
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Prospero's Books
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