A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Directed by Peter Hall

A Nightmare of A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Reviewed by Shahrnaz Zarafshar
September 24th, 2007

Perhaps director Peter Hall was actually asleep when he made the low-budget movie version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and is therefore not liable for the nightmare result. But surely studio executives were wide awake when they authorized the DVD release, or maybe the decision was influenced by the cast of famous British actors from the Royal Shakespeare Company. Although the film stock quality is from the original release, there are many other reasons that suggest this movie should have stayed in 1968.

With the opening scene focused on random blades of grass and flickering dots appearing on the screen, it is already clear that this 124-minute long movie will be as tedious as first suspected. The condescending manner in which Theseus, the duke of Athens as played by Derek Godfrey, addresses his fiancée, Hippolyta, is soon forgotten at the sight of Barbara Jefford’s costume. Consisting of a tight, black leather mini-dress, with knee-high boots and a golden snake armband, this outfit is clearly not what Shakespeare intended the Queen of the Amazons to wear. The character of Hippolyta is completely lost in this strange interpretation, portraying the queen as a submissive woman who dutifully listens to the man who defeated her in battle. Unfortunately, the horror of such significant mistakes from a respected director is heightened by even more momentous errors.

The main characters of the play are a quartet of young lovers, but an analysis of their unique personalities is interrupted by flawed choices on the part of the casting directors. Lysander, played by David Warner, always has a serious expression and speaks his lines woodenly; he neglects emotion even when talking to his love, Hermia. By contrast, Helen Mirren is almost too animated in her portrayal of Hermia, particularly during scenes in the forest in which Hermia is crying for no particular reason. Diana Rigg skillfully conveys the moments of Helena’s cunning and self-pity, yet appears too intelligent to be in love with the scornful Demetrius, played by Michael Jayston. Like Warner, Jayston gives a dull performance in almost all his scenes, even when trying to prove his love to Hermia or while running away from Helena. The dissatisfaction with the majority of the lead actors is increased with the ridiculous costumes and settings.

Although it is understood that Hall tried to update the play with the pop culture of when the movie was filmed, the resulting effects are irksome to the viewer due to the glaring difference between the setting and the script. In one of the opening shots, a modern British country manor is shown with “Athens” superimposed, as though that would be enough to convince viewers to suspend their sense of disbelief. As the young men and women travel through the forest, it is understandable that they would become somewhat dirty, but the liberal and inconsistent application of mud to their faces and clothing only became distracting and detracted from the lines being spoken. Besides the aforementioned mistake of Hippolyta’s costume, the ‘60s effect is present in the supposedly Greek clothing. Helena and Hermia run around in light mini-dresses and thick go-go boots, while Demetrius and Lysander have the distinctive Beatles’ mop haircut and typical British clothing. Besides the humans, the fairies are also irritating due to their questionable style of dress and the cheap forest set.

Despite the casting of superb actors and actresses, such as Ian Holm as Puck and Judi Dench in the role of Titania, the fairies in the movie were an overall failure. In an effort to make them appear otherworldly, the makeup artists covered the actors and actresses in green paint, used poorly-attached pointed eartips and applied fake fur on Oberon’s lower arms. With the film’s lack of attention to details, it was inevitable that the audience would notice when the paint washed off as a fairy sat in water or that the paint had only been painted on the face and not even the neck on others. Titania’s scanty covering consisting of body paint and leaf pasties doesn’t even warrant the description of a costume, although Oberon’s outfit isn’t much better. Ian Richardson’s three twists of hair, which were spiked with gel and dyed silver, are a cheap imitation of a crown and are only noticeable when they are suddenly missing in the next scene. Both sets of fairy attendants for Titania and Oberon are ragged children with tangled hair and creepy entrances and exits marked by sounds of running and shouting. One of the few things the movie was able to do successfully was the portrayal of Puck. Played by Ian Holm, the fairy is still as mischievous as in the play, but with interestingly dog-like traits, such as panting and shaking his head. However, aspects of this interpretation soon becomes exasperating, such as the rushed line delivery. Fortunately, not all features of the movie are influenced by poor choices.

Despite the film’s many obvious errors, there are still parts that remain enjoyable. One of the best aspects is the casting of the mechanicals. All the actors who played the workmen were able to assume the expressions and line delivery with apparent ease and consistency. In particular, Paul Rogers was captivating in his performance of Nick Bottom, portraying the self-important weaver without overacting. The only convincing scene in the movie involves these actors during the performance of Pyramus and Thisbe. Although the interspersed comments from the audience are choppy, the scene is actually as funny as it is in the play. However, any good feelings left from the mechanicals’ play are negated by the conclusion of the movie, which features a cheesy scene with the fairies and a poorly done soliloquy by Puck.

The acting and costumes left much to be desired, while the sets and film techniques did nothing to improve the movie. The forest setting is clumsily lit by large lights that are supposed to be like stars, but are so overly bright that the characters’ faces are partially overexposed. Another example of poor planning is the excessive and abrupt usage of smoke machines in forest scenes. Hall’s mistake of portraying the breaking of the fourth wall by having the actors speak directly into the camera became tiresome, particularly when the background setting changed randomly. The deliberately choppy editing and close-up shots of characters strikes the viewer as unique at first, but quickly become irritating and headache-inducing. If this was performed on stage, the terrible film techniques wouldn’t be present. Instead of editing to make fairies appear and disappear, clever trapdoors and lighting would have been used for a subtle effect. Smoke machines would have been applied judiciously to maintain visibility on the stage, and lighting would have illuminated characters, rather than blotting them out. The close camera angles would not have been used, and the audience would be able to appreciate the asides and soliloquies, with the costumes still being visible.

With the stiff acting, terrible outfits, clumsy lighting, jarring sound effects and obsolete filming styles, the movie’s only redeeming qualities are the actors portraying the mechanicals and the scene in which Pyramus and Thisbe is acted out. Clearly the original film stock is an accurate representation of the movie’s quality.