Customer Reviews

A Midsummer Night's Dream

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Although the scratchy unrestored color makes this DVD it look as if it had been pirated in a movie theatre thirty years ago, it is well worth buying if only to see the delightful performances of young Helen Mirren as Hermia, Diana Rigg (taking a break from Emma Peel) as Helena, Judy Dench as Titania, Ian Richardson (who gives a preview of his "House of Cards" sardonic smile) as Oberon, and even the husband of Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced Bouquet) as Snug the Joiner. The production (with its pink-lipped green fairies and hairy-chested Puck) may have been misguided, but the actors shine as future stars of British stage and cinema.

Because of the poor quality and the faded print, I'd actually give it three and 1/2 stars. I still recommend it, however, as a piece of historical interest.

The film source materials start off looking battered, but the image cleans up pretty quickly.

More importantly, the performances are uniformly strong, without a weak link to be found. If you are familiar with Ian Richardson and Judy Dench only from their recent work, this movie will be an eye-opener. Bill Travers' Snout is a treasure, and Paul Rogers leaves behind his usual kings and bullies to give a vocally astonishing performance as Bottom.

Most productions of this play have trouble balancing the scenes of the confused lovers in the forest with the Pyramis and Thisbe farce at the end - usually one or the other gets out of control, but this one gets it right for once. There is a little self-conscious film editing a la Richard Lester and the New Wave that has dated, but doesn't really kill the occasion. The language and atmosphere are magical, as good as it gets.

Some of the whining in these reviews is silly. There is no other Midsummer Night's Dream so evenly and superlatively cast, and it's worth putting up with less than optimal print quality to watch and listen to them.

Yes, the quality is poor, but as an English teacher, who has watched almost every available video version in the past three weeks, this was the most faithful representation by far! I can't show it in class, but there is nothing more satisfying than seeing young Dame Judy brazen and lovely enough to pull off a nude Titania and seeing the lovely, elegant woman she is now. This is also the only version I have seen, so far, that portrays Hippolyta as the strong, amazon she is supposed to be! Hurrah for the brits, who don't have any problem keeping the complexity of the relationship between Theseus and Hippolyta! The trappings of the sixties just made it more of a romp! I would really rent this, the quality is absolutely terrible. I am sure I have caught snippets of a much better copy on television at some point, if I had known what a must see it was, I would have recorded it then. Rent it, watch it, love it for its kookiness and know that the Bard would have really appreciated it!

Could Water Bearer Films have found a print in worse condition? With weaker, more faded color? There is a note on the back cover that the "Digital color enhancement" has been copyrighted - that's enhancement? And on top of it all it looks like a poor copy of a VHS tape. The wretched quality of the picture... and the sound as well... make the DVD virtually unwatchable. A 1968 film shouldn't look as bad as this. I guess we're just supposed to be grateful that the film is available on DVD - thanks, but no thanks, Water Bearer.

I had this film on video and the transfer was horrible.

Yes, the dialogue is read faster than the cast of the original horror flick THE THING could've done it, the green makeup of the fairies comes and goes like sunscreen...but this film is worth seeing for the cast alone.

Diana Rigg is as sexy as she ever was as Mrs. Emma Peel from "The Avengers" or Mrs. James Bond in ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE.

Judi Dench, who would become 007's boss "M" in the Pierce Brosnan Bond films, runs around in green paint and pasties. If the crew of the Enterprise had beamed down into this production, Captain Kirk would've added another hot green chick to his list of conquests (alongside Yvonne Craig).

David Warner, an actor whose career goes from THE OMEN to TIME BANDITS to TRON to TITANIC, plays one of the "human" leads.

Helen Mirren looks like she just got out of high school--so young and fresh and pretty! She would go on to many sexy roles. One of the weirdest ones was THE COOK, THE THIEF, HIS WIFE & HER LOVER.

And Ian Holm, perhaps best remembered as the milk-sweating android from the original ALIEN, plays a hyper, twitching fairy. He was also great in THE SWEET HEREAFTER and in the Mel Gibson version of HAMLET.

Any one of these actors would've been worth watching in a Shakespearean production...but to have them all?
Definitely worth watching.

Allowing for the albeit distracting 1968-isms (i.e. leather mini skirts and Beatles-style haircuts) this is a first rate version of Shakespeare's magical play. Featuring a cast of amazing stars including Helen Mirren and Diana Rigg as Hermia and Helena, Judy Dench (quite scantily clad) as Titania, the velvet-voiced Ian Richardson as Oberon and the impish Iam Holm as Puck, this version successfully portrays the combination of humor, magic and the absurdities of young love ("Lord, what fools these mortals be!") inherent in Shakespeare's play. The high-speed camera work and overabundance of green face paint can be a bit distracting, but the brilliance of Bottom and the "rude mechanicals", the careful balancing of the magical and the real and the faithful and articulate delivery of Shakespeare's gorgeous language more than compensate for any eccentricities of film-craft. Listening to Oberon's beautiful soliloquies ("I know a bank where the wild thyme blows...") delivered with such beauty and grace by Ian Richardson is worth the price of admission all by itself! Give Peter Hall's MND a try!

An independent film Directed by Peter Hall and The Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-upon-Avon. This is one of those gems that allow many famous personalities of the time to display a little culture.

There are many fun facets of this film; right off we notice all the actors in a much earlier version. Who would have thought that Judi Dench was once so cute? And Helen Mirren before she was queen. Each version of midsummer Night's Dream displays a different star cast; and also to our advantage displays a different emphasis and dialog of William Shakespeare.

Then there is the negative side. Look closely and it looks like an Italian film with English dubbing; the words and voices are not quite in sync. The cameraman is the one that filmed "The Blare Witch."

Believe it or not it is better the second time through.
This film is a must for the collector.


A Midsummer Night's Dream

A few notes out of one man's viewpoint:
-=-=-I love this one. Wonderful, dreamy music. Top actors.
Overall, it leaves you feeling fine. -=-=-And it doesn't cut up
the script much: all the rich language of the Bard!
-=-=-Bottom's character comes off
as a good soul, all in all.
-=-=-The use of children as the forest fairies/attendants was perfect.
-=-=-Not a slick production, but heartfelt and radiating genuine goodwill
at the end..
-=-=-See for yourself?

I first saw this film in 16mm format when I was taking Shakespeare in college in 1980. I liked it so much that every year after I would find out when the class was showing it just to go see it. The film's image onscreen was always rich, lush, and filled with color. At the time aside from Diana Rigg and a couple of others, I didn't know who many of the actors were. Now, looking back 27 years later after many of them like Judy Dench and Helen Mirren have had such distinguished careers, it is really amazing to look back on it now and see them when they were so young etc.

The reason I bought the dvd was because it's the only way I can go back and see it now. Having seen a real film print in excellent condition, I can verify that unfortunately as one other reviewer said, the print is washed out and the colors faded, and while the overall image is clean, the film's imperfections are apparent. The whole thing could benefit from a better print and digital remastering. If you're just looking for a film version of this play, then you may be better off with more recent releases. However if you can get past the imperfections and have a keen interest, then it's a great way to look back in time at many of these fine British actors.

I first saw this film in the '60s and was glad to have it again. Excellent DVD.