I interrupt this FrayFest event to comment on another film.
I went to see A Midsummer Night's Dream yesterday with clone in
hand. There are many things wrong with this rendering of one of
Shakespeare's most popular plays, but on the whole I'd rate it a
fun afternoon's entertainment.
The most jarring problem with the film is that Hoffman has moved
the timing of it from sometime prior to the 17th century (I think
Shakespeare is unclear about the time it is supposed to occur,
but I always saw it as set in Ancient Greek times) to the end of
the 19th century, a move that does not work well for the story.
Even Italy in the middle ages would have served the setting
better than the 19th century, where the relationships among the
principals were strained wrt their credibility.
For instance, Theseus, Duke of Athens, is marrying Hippolyta,
Queen of the Amazons, whom he took by sword and conquest. Then
there is the dynamic between Egeus and Hermia (father and
daughter), which is predicated on the understanding that Hermia
is the property of her father, to be disposed of at his will, or
killed, at his will. Regardless of how one slices it, these are
not easily transferred to the 19th century, particularly since
the film retains most of the play's dialogue and scripted
relationships intact. The only thing that was amusing about the
late 19th century as setting was the use of bicycles for
transportation by the four erstwhile lovers as opposed to horses
or some other ancient mode.
In fact, it took me a good half hour to "get beyond"
the mismatch of timing in the film. Once the story moves into the
woods, it becomes more penetrable, and enjoyable actually.
Of the actors, all the female leads were very well done, with
Michelle Pheiffer as Titania giving a smashing performance. She
was postively luminescent, and was a perfect queen of the fairies.
Of the males, Kevin Kline (as Bottom) and Stanley Tucci(as Puck)
were excellent, Christian Bale and Dominic West decent as the two
male rivals for Hermia, and Rupert Everett tolerable as Oberon. I
really dislike Everett, so perhaps I'm not a judge of his
performance, but I found it a shadow of Pheiffer's more
compelling one.
The clone loved this movie, probably because she has done this
play before (as one of the Athenian workmen), and is going to be
playing Puck this summer in another rendition of it. I think she
watched Puck for inspiration, and found her muse. Personally, I
think translating this play into film is a tough task anyway, and
having seen the play's version many times, would have to say I
still prefer stage to film on this one. Certainly, this film
version does nothing to outshine a well crafted theatre
production.
For light fun and an amusing afternoon, it was time well spent. I
can tolerate a lot of cheesy Shakespeare, however, so if you don't
care very much for his plays, I'm not sure this one would go down
well.
