SOURCE: Alleva, Richard. Review of Prospero's Books by Peter Greenaway. Commonweal 119, no. 2 (31 January 1992): 25–26.

In the following negative review, Alleva praises John Gielgud's performance in Prospero's Books, claiming that it saves an otherwise “shallow” film.

Peter Greenaway, a self-preening postmodernist who couldn't articulate the simplest story to save his life, has made an adaptation of Shakespeare's The Tempest called Prospero's Books. Wisely coasting on his small but undeniable flair for Felliniesque imagery and, even more wisely, hiring Sir John Gielgud to play Prospero, Greenaway has managed to give us a Tempest that renders about one-tenth of the magic of this great fantasy. Considering what atrocities Greenaway has flung onto screens (the loathsome The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover, the mincingly sadistic and finally incoherent The Draughtsman's Contract), we should be grateful for even this small measure.

Greenaway, of course, undermines the story with numerous tricks, narrative...