{"id":12300,"date":"2015-10-01T15:30:44","date_gmt":"2015-10-01T19:30:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=12300"},"modified":"2015-10-01T15:33:37","modified_gmt":"2015-10-01T19:33:37","slug":"br-midsummer-nights-sex-comedy-a-1982","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=12300","title":{"rendered":"BR: Midsummer Night\u2019s Sex Comedy, A (1982)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"MidsummerNightsSexComedy_BR\"<\/a>Film<\/strong>: Excellent<\/p>\n

Transfer<\/strong>: \u00a0Excellent<\/p>\n

Extras<\/strong>: Good<\/p>\n

Label:\u00a0<\/strong> Twilight Time<\/p>\n

Region:<\/strong>\u00a0All<\/p>\n

Released:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0August 11, 2015<\/p>\n

Genre:<\/strong>\u00a0 Comedy<\/p>\n

Synopsis:<\/strong>\u00a0A trio of couples gather at a remote household and find past obsessions and fears of future relations collide over one night in this loose amalgam of William Shakespeare, Felix Mendelssohn, and Ingmar Bergman.<\/p>\n

Special Features:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>Isolated Mono Music & Effects Track \/ Theatrical Trailer \/ 8-page colour booklet with liner notes by film historian Julie Kirgo \/ Limited to 3000 Copies\u00a0 Available exclusively from Screen Archives Entertainment<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Review:<\/strong><\/p>\n

From William Shakespeare\u2019s classic play A Midsummer\u2019s Night\u2019s Dream<\/a> of fairy dusted lovers true and accidental, errors in judgment, and wacky hijinks between various couples, to Ingmar Bergman\u2019s variation Smiles of a Summer Night<\/strong> (1955) in which said hijinks are isolated to one extended night, we have another extrapolation from Woody Allen that invokes bits of the aforementioned, but gels into a peculiar work that feels like seventies indie film weaving together the look of an artsy Bergman tale with doses of moderate absurdism typical of American auteur Allen \u2013 an unusual amalgam, given Allen\u2019s film stems from 1982.<\/p>\n

Although set in somewhere in a soft & fuzzy Edwardian era, the film\u2019s seventies feel is perhaps tied to the lengthy and sometimes elaborate takes in which Allen\u2019s characters weigh all kinds of literary, marital, sexual quandaries via sophisticated exchanges that are occasionally brought down to Earth with contemporary cracks or Allen\u2019s elaborate visual gags.<\/p>\n

Allen\u2019s Andrew is a financial whiz who invents gizmos that have become increasingly sophisticated as his sex life is locked in Pause mode, and doubts of emotional fidelity are tested when old flame Ariel (Mia Farrow) arrives for a weekend stay on the eve of her nuptials to very older, very verbose Leopold (Jose Ferrer). Andrew\u2019s best friend Maxwell (Tony Roberts) comes for a visit with his latest fling from the medical clinic, pretty Dulcy (Julie Haggerty), but Maxwell soon falls for Ariel, as does Andrew, igniting jealousy and somewhat murderous rage in Leopold , while Andrew\u2019s wife Adrian (Mary Steenburgen) enjoys some choice sexual consults from Dulcy.<\/p>\n

Forest meetings are foiled by chance encounters and discussions, and Allen steers what would\u2019ve been a predictable comedy of errors, manners, and romance into regular pauses where characters discuss and process sudden events that pepper a very long night for one and all.<\/p>\n

Gordon Willis\u2019 stunning cinematography gives the film a stately, Bergmanesque veneer, especially the magic hour shots and scenes where sexually starved characters stroll along the forest brook, and yet Allen injects absurdism via a flying machine that actually works (in spite of its technical rickety design), and periodic bumbling.<\/p>\n

Bawdy behaviour is often comically clumsy (Andrew and Adrian\u2019s kitchen escapades are delightfully ridiculous), and there\u2019s a moment when a search for Leopold invokes a bit of Bugs Bunny, with characters exclaiming \u2018Leopold!\u2019 much like orchestra musicians reacting to Bugs Bunny approaching the podium dressed as Leopold Stokowski in the classic cartoon \u201cLong-Haired Hare<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The use of various Mendelssohn extracts gives the film both verve and a layer of cheekiness, often punctuating the movements and meaty dialogue exchanges of the troubled, twisted, and rather philosophical characters, while an allusion to Shakespeare\u2019s forest fairies comes in the form of a self-made \u2018magic orb\u2019 (perhaps an allusion to the \u2018magic lantern\u2019 which launched Bergman\u2019s fixation on moving images as a child) that either prophesizes, harkens back, or gives a present day glimpse at character unions by snapping to life at key junctures. Images are projected (quite brightly) on the forest canvas at night, and in spite of overheating and sparking to a near-terminal state, the slitted orb still functions, providing a final capper as Allen\u2019s drama wraps up in a manner where everyone is pretty much in a better place.<\/p>\n

Arguably the real star (and surprise) is Jose Ferrer, relishing his dialogue and literary-styled (and pompous) Leopold when much of his work around 1982 was relegated to episodic shows, TV movies, small supporting feature film roles, or hasty exploitation fodder such as Bloody Birthday<\/a> <\/strong>(1981). Leopold is vibrant, packed with arrogance, and very sexual \u2013 he\u2019s clearly delighted he\u2019s snagged a young hottie (Ariel) \u2013 and he\u2019s the anchor around which Allen\u2019s couples gather, splinter, and contemplate taboo behaviour.<\/p>\n

Twilight Time\u2019s Blu-ray features a lovely transfer that brings out Willis\u2019 marvelous images, and there\u2019s an isolated mono music & effects track of the Mendelssohn music selections that make up the film\u2019s score.<\/p>\n

A snappily edited trailer highlights the assorted conflicts and provocative characters, and Julie Kirgo\u2019s liner notes pays homage to a film that reportedly earned Mia Farrow a Golden Razzie Nomination, which seems bizarre given she fits Ariel to a T.<\/p>\n

Other Woody Allen films released on Blu by TT include Love and Death<\/a><\/strong> (1975), Broadway Danny Rose<\/a><\/strong> (1983), The Purple Rose of Cairo<\/a><\/strong> (1985), Radio Days<\/a> <\/strong>(1987), and Crimes and Misdemeanors<\/a><\/strong> (1989), and the Allen starring in the Red Menace satire The Front<\/a><\/strong> (1976).<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 2015 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

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External References:<\/strong>
\nEditor’s Blog<\/a> — IMDB<\/a> \u00a0— \u00a0Soundtrack Album<\/a>
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\nVendor Search Links:<\/strong>
\nAmazon.ca<\/a>\"\" \"\" —\u00a0<\/span> Amazon.com<\/a>\"\" \"\" —\u00a0<\/span> Amazon.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From William Shakespeare\u2019s classic play A Midsummer\u2019s Night\u2019s Dream of fairy dusted lovers true and accidental, errors in judgment, and wacky hijinks between various couples, to Ingmar Bergman\u2019s variation Smiles of a Summer Night (1955) in which said hijinks are isolated to one extended night, we have another extrapolation from Woody Allen…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[18],"tags":[3974,3972,3973,3235,3975,3976,1038,3977,2784],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-3co","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12300"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12300"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12300\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12311,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12300\/revisions\/12311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}