A Midsummer Night's Dream 1996

This is a Royal Shakespeare Company production, and it has the look of a stage production that was adapted to screen. That can work well, but in this case, the adaptation doesn’t work so well. There's a little bit too much "staginess" about it. The actors understand their characters and convincingly deliver their lines as if they know what they mean. Let me briefly explain what I mean by "staginess:" the actors seem to be very aware that this is a Shakespeare play and they are in the RSC, and they are supposed to pronounce things in a Shakespearean way and sound Shakespearean. In order to get through to the people in the cheap seats, a stage actor needs bigger movements and louder, clearer speech than a film actor. These actors seem to have been told to do what they always do, and the camera will be over that way. It gets to be a bit much by the end, and I think the film would have been improved by more natural performances. There are also moments that must have been the director’s favorite bits, but should have been edited out (I’m thinking of when Theseus roars directly at the camera. It’s impossible on stage, so why not try it in a movie, except that it doesn’t make sense and doesn’t work).

This is the weirdest version of A Midsummer Night's Dream that I've seen. It's framed as the dream of a little boy, which seems like a good idea if you haven't already seen Julie Taymor's Titus. Instead of a real world–fairy world contrast, the whole film takes place in a vibrant Seussian dreamscape. I miss that contrast. I think I must have written a paper about it in college.

I’m ok with weird, as long as it makes sense. I thought the production’s take on fairyland was very interesting, with lightbulbs descending from the sky and doors appearing out of the ground. Sometimes this can look like a production just didn’t have the budget to afford a real set, but in this case, the minimalist approach provided just enough information and just enough spectacle. I like the lightbulbs; they would be really cool on stage. Well done. Athens, though, with all the hairspray, flowing gowns, and candles, looks like a Whitesnake video. And a fire hazard.

Adrian Noble seems to have had a strong dislike of the “fourth wall.” He places The Boy, played by Osheen Jones (who, incidentally, played Young Lucius in Taymor’s Titus), in the action, standing in as the proxy for the audience. The boy is in the play, the play is in his dream. It would be a really cool nesting of realities if it worked. The characters seem to recognize that he’s there (sometimes) and direct their soliloquies to him (sometimes) and try to scare him (sometimes). Mostly he’s there to show us how we’re supposed to feel about the story, because I guess Shakespeare wasn’t a good enough writer to convey that, or maybe because we’re too dim to understand what’s going on.

The overall impression is that it’s a film by people who would be much more comfortable working on stage, but excited to finally be able to use all the ideas they’ve ever had for a movie.

I have one last note before I finish: I had to watch this twice because when I checked imdb.com, I noticed that one of the fairies is played by Ann Hasson, who was amazing as Juliet in the 1976 Thames Television Romeo and Juliet. I think she’s the “Over hill, over dale / Thorough bush, thorough briar” fairy. It’s amazing what makeup can do.

Here’s how I rate this production:

1. Midsummer Night's Dream. Dir. Max Reinhardt and William Dieterle. Perf. James Cagney, Joe E. Brown, and Dick Powell. 1935. DVD. Warner Bros, 2007. (imdb.com)
2. Midsummer Night's Dream. Dir. Elijah Moshinsky. Perf. Helen Mirren, Peter McEnery and Pippa Guard. 1981. DVD. Ambrose, 2000 or 2001. (imdb.com)
3. Midsummer Night’s Dream. Dir. Adrian Noble. Perf. Alex Jennings, Lindsay Duncan, and Finbar Lynch. 1996. Netflix.com, 25 MAR 2015. (DVD. Miramax Lionsgate, 2011.) (imdb.com)
4. Midsummer Night's Dream. Dir. Peter Hall. Perf. Helen Mirren, Diana Rigg, and Ian Richardson. 1968. DVD. Water Bearer, 2004. (imdb.com)

To be fair, Julie Taymor’s Titus came out in 1999, three years after this A Midsummer Night’s Dream, so I could just as easily be criticizing her.