Tempest and The Tempest

Paul Mazursky's Tempest is a modern staging of Shakespeare's The Tempest, utilizing much of the same plot and dynamics of the original.  The differences in the modern adaptation reveal Muzursky's changes in focus of the story, rather than using the frame of the story to convey an entirely different message, a technique used by Gloria Naylor in Mama Day.  One difference I quickly noticed was that Phillip (Prospero's counterpart) consciously chose to leave his job in the city (his dukedom) to travel to Greece and ultimately live on the deserted island.  This difference can be used to relate to Muzursky's modern audience, who would understand the stress of a failing relationship with Antonia and the disparity of his job situation; traveling to Greece was a way for Phillip to get away from these modern problems.  Also, the relationship between Miranda and Freddy (Ferdinand) seemed to take a lesser role of importance.  In Shakespeare's play, their relationship can be a possible source of change to Prospero, while in thin the movie it seemed to be a trivial side plot.  Muzursky used this to focus on the actual relationship and process of forgiveness for Phillip and Antonia.  These small changes reflect Mazursky's focus on the issues of contemporary life, allowing his audience to easily relate to the story.