<Tr> <Th> Budget </Th> <Td> £ 1,500,000 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Box office </Th> <Td> $1,750,301 </Td> </Tr> <P> Prospero's Books is a 1991 British avant - garde film adaptation of William Shakespeare's The Tempest, written and directed by Peter Greenaway . John Gielgud plays Prospero, the protagonist who provides the off - screen narration and the voices to the other story characters . Stylistically, Prospero's Books is narratively and cinematically innovative in its techniques, combining mime, dance, opera, and animation . Edited in Japan, the film makes extensive use of digital image manipulation (using Hi - Vision video inserts and the Paintbox system), often overlaying multiple moving and still pictures with animations . Michael Nyman composed the musical score and Karine Saporta choreographed the dance . The film is also notable for its extensive use of nudity, reminiscent of Renaissance paintings of mythological characters . The nude actors and extras represent a cross-section of male and female humanity . </P> <P> Prospero's Books is a complex tale based upon William Shakespeare's The Tempest . Miranda, the daughter of Prospero, an exiled magician, falls in love with Ferdinand, the son of his enemy; while the sorcerer's sprite, Ariel, convinces him to abandon revenge against the traitors from his earlier life . In the film, Prospero stands in for Shakespeare himself, and is seen writing and speaking the story's action as it unfolds . </P>

Actor who starred as title character in prosperos books