Pharonic Fantasy Theatre: Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow

Well, here we are, at the end of September, and thus at the end of Shakespearetember. This project hasn't exactly gone as planned, what with getting the hang of my new 8-5 job and budgeting my time and everything. Hopefully in the future I can take some more time during the week to write out more comprehensive reviews rather than trying to bash out reviews over the weekend when I have fifty other things to get done at home now that I can no longer do them during the week. What pains me is that I haven't been able to write more in this of all months, since I have been doing Shakespeare movies... and of all of the subjects that I have written about on this site the Bard deserves more than what I have been giving him. Well, if I do another Shakespeare month next year I will definitely try to do him more justice. Anywho, let's get to our last Shakespeare review for the month (and, alack, it will be another short one for the aforementioned reasons) and partake in

Film, 1935

Directors: Max Reinhardt and William Dieterle

Story

Theseus, the Duke of Athens is marrying Hippolyta, the Queen of the Amazons (which sounds like a bitchin' name for a rock band, by the way) amidst much Athenian joy and revelry (and presumably much throwing up). But what's important is that a couple of young lovers, a couple of young not-quite-lovers and a troupe of amateur actors have gone into the woods about a mile outside of town. This is important because while there they will be mixed up in a marital war between Oberon and Titania, the King and Queen of the Fairies. Also, they will be massively fucked with by the most annoying fairy of them all, Prick–er, I mean Puck.

Review

As I have said, this will be short. I loved this movie. The acting was good; all of the principle roles are done well and conveyed the humor in Shakespeare's play. James Cagney in particular stands out as Bottom, both before and after assification. Yes, Mickey Rooney is annoying as shit, but you know what, he is supposed to be. It's Puck. The little bastard pranks other people for his own amusement. If they made this movie today they would probably get some irritating modern celebrity douchebag to play the part. One can also see why the nineteen year-old Olivia de Havilland went on to fame and fortune later on (this was her first movie).

What I like the most about A Midsummer Night's Dream though is the production. First, they use the incidental music composed by Mendelssohn, which is awesome – I can't imagine any Hollywood production doing this nowadays. Second, the sets and imagery are fantastic, and I mean that in both the colloquial and the original sense of the word. The screenshots I provide in this review do not do this film justice. You have to see this film to truly behold its dreamlike wonder. The black-and-white only adds to the charm.

To sum up, see this. It's fun, it's funny, it's easy to comprehend (something not all Shakespeare movies can do) and it is truly wondrous.

Screenshots