A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982)

A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982)

As long as you don't mind making light of deception, adultery, and plain old cheating on your wife and lover, this is a really well constructed, fast, brilliantly written film.

Woody Allen, by nature, has some combination of striving for depths and avoiding them by silliness that is beguiling. It's really fun to see one of his "entertainments" like this (as opposed to his all out comedies or his more serious films) because it carves out an ingenious, lovable world where you don't have to worry about a thing for an hour and a half. There is surprising humor (of course), sight gags and turns of phrase, and the absurdity of situation. But there is also a layer of despair at the universe, too, which is like pepper in the sugar.

Now Allen is a director as much as a writer (both, never forget) and he makes movies fluid, visually tight, and fresh in spirit. And he does this in part because he gets great actors and he gets them to perform at their best. That's part of what a great director does, inspiring and making the most of everyone. Here we have Mia Farrow, who is her usual meek intelligent self, and a counterpart, an echo really, played to perfect pitch by Mary Steenburgen. But even more astonishing really is the arrogant, prolix professor played by Jose Ferrar, who never cracks from his erudite Victorianism. And there is Allen himself, playing the same kind of neurotic, feeling, questioning man he is so good at.

So there is nothing her not to like. Toss in the parallels to Shakespeare, an homage to Bergman, and the use of Mendelssohn for music (a switch for Allen), and you have a movie that would stand up to studying. Not that it needs study. It's too slight and frivolous to worry much about, and it gets downright ridiculous (or puerile) at times, so don't worry beyond having fun. For some, it might be too affected, and it might have too many lines that seem obvious, or are played with a kind of falseness when genuine intensity might be welcome. But not really. It's a set piece, a play held flat by celluloid, an overly controlled contrivance, a highly successful resolution of intention. When it's done, you won't be changed, you won't cry, but you'll feel good, and will have a good laugh or two to remember.

Years later:

I have to admit this movie just clicks with me, and every time I watch it I'm aware it's a completely frivolous, minor effort. But I really like it anyway, and I think it has some sparkling lines, really funny comic comeback and expressions. The movie is also one of the famous set of nearly flawless films shot for Allen by the great cinematographer Gordon Willis.

The premise here is simple—three mismatched couples get together for a weekend in the country. (Note here—Allen famously hates the country, and this feels like upstate New York in spirit.) We not only see the quirks in the relationships that exist, we see the attempts at new matches in a kind of grab bag of infidelity. That part of the movie is silly and fun.

The other theme here is sort of serious, though in comic clothes. And that's whether there is life after death, or a world of spirits in any way. The answer is Allen's wishful one: yes. But he can only approach it in this kind of fantasy, because in the real world he believes otherwise (from what I read).

So this is just a postscript after yet another fun viewing. Short and funny.

Fmovies: A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982)

A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982) was written and directed by Woody Allen. Allen also stars in his iconic role as a more-or-less decent guy with the ability to say or do the wrong thing in almost any situation.

Woody has surrounded himself with talent in this film. Jose Ferrer plays the pompous professor Leopold, and Tony Roberts plays the "fast" doctor Maxwell, who is Allen's best friend. The real clout comes from the female actors: Mia Farrow is Ariel--engaged to Leopold, but maybe in love with Woody, or maybe even with Roberts. Julie Hagerty plays Dulcy, a young but not-so-innocent nurse who has accompanied Maxwell for the weekend. Mary Steenburgen portrays Allen's wife Adrian, who has become frigid for reasons that she knows but we don't.

Shakespeare realized the potential of midsummer's night for fantasy and for love, and so did Ingmar Bergman in his film "Smiles of a Summer Night." Allen has never been afraid of taking on a challenge, and he maintains the tradition with a script where almost every man wants almost every woman, and vice-versa. The film is all about love, and all about sex. However, because it's rated PG-13, you know that there won't be any on-screen nudity. Actors talk about sex, they arrange secret meetings and talk about sex some more, but we never see them without multi-layered early-1900's clothing. That's OK--this movie is about the chase, not the consummation.

The film contains some beautiful scenery, so it would work marginally better on a large screen, but it was certainly satisfactory on DVD. Incidentally, the soundtrack is composed entirely of music by Felix Mendelssohn. You may not realize that Mendelssohn's incidental music for A Midsummer Night's Dream contains a melody we hear all the time. You'll recognize it instantly.

First,i should say that i am an inconditional Woody Allen fan. I saw this movie for the first time yesterday and i had a GREAT time! Tony Roberts is just great in that one! I wonder why Woody did'nt cast him more often? I won't give you the plot as you already know it. I'll just add that A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy is a different Woody Allen film. This time he focus on the country in is beautifulness instead of the more common urban movie he used to shoot. And that gives this movie something unique compared to Woody's other works. The jokes and the situations are very funny and i laughed a lot! So if you are a Woody Allen fan and haven't seen that one,forget about all the bad words that movie got and enjoy a realy entertaining viewing!

A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy fmovies. When I saw this film I thought it was from Allen's early period and I thought of it as a prototype Manhattan but when I checked the chronology I discovered that it belongs to his middle period and postdates both Annie Hall and Manhattan. It really is like Manhattan set in the woods of New England. As far as I can see, it is his first film with Mia Farrow and his camera is besotted with her as are all the male characters in the film. Mary Steeburgen also looks good although I can never work out whether she really can act or whether she is just having trouble with her contact lenses. The scenes of New England are beautifully shot and are ravishing to look at. I thought the element of mysticism sat uneasily with the rest of the film.

This film is said to be Allen's take on the Bergman film Three Smiles of a Summer Night although I cannot comment on this because I last saw the Bergman film 35 years ago at a student film society. Maybe the mystical element in Allen's film is lifted from Bergman. There are also obvious parallels with A Midsummer Night's Dream with the mortals swapping partners and with spirits flitting about in the woods. In keeping with the subject matter, Allen uses Mendelssohn for the incidental music rather that his usual classic jazz numbers.

Despite being one of Woody's lesser works this film still succeeds to entertain. The sight of Woody on a flying bicycle is worth watching the film alone, as is the wonderful scenery. Despite not having an outstanding script, though good by anyone else's standards, Woody's take on Bergman & Shakespeare's tale is a success that makes the summer seem like a magical time of escapism and hope. Woody succeeds in the modern take on the Shakespearian theme of confusion & love and manages to make a warm and pleasant film

The movie takes place in the early 1900's.Inventor Andrew Hobbs and his wife Adrian are having a party party at their home in the country.They have invited Adrian's cousin, an aging philosopher Leopold and his younger fiancée Ariel, a randy doctor Maxwell and his date Dulcy, who's a nurse.During the weekend these people feel like cheating on their companions.Also some spirits come interfering their weekend in the country.Woody Allen does solid work as the writer, director and main actor in A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy from 1982.It's loosely based on Ingmar Bergman's Smiles of a Summer Night.For Mia Farrow this was the first time with Woody of the thirteen movies she made with him.She didn't deserve that Razzie Award nomination.José Ferrer is great as Leopold.Julie Hagerty is very good as Dulcy, the free-thinking nurse.Tony Roberts is terrific as Maxwell.Mary Steenburgen does very good job as the wife Adrian.In this movie Allen goes very Shakespearian showing all those spirits going wild.The movie is better than its reputation.It's quite a delight to watch Allen with that flying device and taking Farrow for a ride.Also the magic lantern is quite an invention.The conversations they have with each other over the table is just enjoyable to listen.On the music department we hear some great stuff by Felix Mendelssohn.Allen's not close to his best here, but it has a lot of good.