I Suppose I Will Settle

Today’s review is for the 1999 “comedy” film: “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” staring Christian Bale as Demetrius, Dominic West as Lysander, Anna Friel as Hermia, Calista Flockhart as Helena, Michelle Pfeiffer as Titania, Rupert Everett as Oberon, David Strathairn as Theseus, Sophie Marceau as Hippolyta, Kevin Kline as Nick Bottom and Stanley Tucci as Puck.  Yeah, a pretty big name cast.
This version of the “renowned” Shakespeare comedic play finds the world of humans crossing over with the realm of magic, fairies, and love potions.  The lovely Hermia is being forced to marry Demetrius, but she truly cares for Lysander.  Her best friend, Helena, is in love with Demetrius.  Both Lysander and Demetrius are in love with Hermia.  Meanwhile, Duke Theseus is supposed to marry Hippolyta in a few days and Oberon and Titania are having a spat over something (I never figured out what).  Last, but not least, there are a group of common workers (men) from the town who are developing a play to perform at the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta.  Bottom is one of the workers and Puck is an impish servant of Oberon.  Puck and Oberon are involved in some magic which leads to the comic misunderstandings in the play.
Background:  Every now and then, I get this urge to become more “cultured”.  This results in me learning a little about “Art” (painting, drawing, poetry, literature or music).  When I recently re-watched (and reviewed) “Renaissance Man“, I was struck I was very much like the “dummies” who had no appreciation for literature – specifically Shakespeare.  Of course, I’m familiar with some of the general outlines of some of the famous plays:  “Romeo and Juliet”, “Hamlet”, etc.  But, I can’t honestly say I’ve ever watched one of the plays all the way through.  The closest I’ve come is having seen “West Side Story” – which is an adaptation of “Romeo & Juliet”.  So, I’ve decided to try to correct this…  And now, it’s chicken or egg time.  Do you read a play and watch a movie or movie and then read.  Normally, I’d go the read then movie route, but I’d heard before the admonition that Shakespeare wrote to be heard (seen), not read.  After all, the play’s the thing…  (“Hamlet“)
Basically, the movie starts off with Theseus being asked to force the marriage of Hermia to Demetrius, but she refuses because she’s in love with Lysander.  A duel is threatened, but Theseus says she has the night to decide between the father’s wishes, joining a convent or death (as per the “old” laws of Athens).  Hermia and Lysander choose to flee into the woods to escape the decision.  Demetrius and Helena follow.  Oberon tasks Puck with using magic to make Demetrius fall in love with Helena, but Puck mis-identifies Lysander as Demetrius.  Meanwhile, Oberon seeks to punish Titania for their spat and he uses magic to have her fall in love with Bottom, who has been turned into a donkey (an “ass”).  Blah, blah, blah…  Everything gets sorted out and all live happily ever after.
So, is this movie any good?  Is it good comedy?  Are the special effects good?  Is it entertaining?  So-so, not really, yes, somewhat.
Is the movie any good?  In fairness to Shakespeare, not really.  It is slightly updated from the 1500s, but not shot as a modern day movie.  It retains the “old English” speaking and there is very little exposition to get you into the “play” before it starts.  In my younger days, I would have looked up the play’s background so I would know what’s going on before viewing.  I didn’t do that this time around.  As per the admonition above, I wanted to “experience” the play as someone coming to it in the original.  It didn’t “work” for me.  I felt like the first time I read “Lord of the Rings” and I had to learn and remember all these strange names for characters and locations.  I’d say it took 10-15 minutes before I felt like I knew who was talking about who.
Is this a good comedy movie?  No, at least not as I understand the genre.  There are some unusual situations in the movie which might have been / supposed to have been funny.  But they weren’t…  Not a laugh.  Not a chuckle.  Not even an amused smile.  I have since gone to Wikipedia to find out what was going on and my reaction was:  “Okay.  I guess I can kind of see where it was supposed to be “funny”.  But it still wasn’t.  Not to me anyway.“
This movie is beautifully shot and the special effects are pretty good considering it’s NOT a F/X movie.  So, that’s a big plus…
Is the movie entertaining?  Yes, but with reservations.  I was mostly entertained.  For me, the entertainment value came from the special effects and seeing well-known actors in “stage” roles – as opposed to the “movie” roles I’ve seen them in.  If you judge “entertaining” by “I have NO idea what’s going to happen”, then it was a definite yes.”  Would I ever pay money to see this as a real, live stage performance?  No.  Would I ever watch the film again?  Probably not.  …Maybe if it was recast and in a different time (either today or back in the 1500 / 1600s).  The movie was $5 to own or $3 to rent.  If I ever do watch it again, I’m ahead.  Otherwise, a slight loss.
Final recommendation:  moderate.  If you want to see any of these actors in an unusual role – maybe higher.  If you want to be able to say you’ve seen this work (it’s a movie, not a play) – just moderate.
Final comment:  I’m reminded of the dialogue in “Pretty Woman” when Richard Gere is describing opera and he says:  “People’s reactions to opera the first time they see it is very dramatic;  they either love it or they hate it.  If they love it, they will always love it.  If they don’t, they may learn to appreciate it, but it will never become part of their soul.”  I guess for this play, I’ll have to settle for appreciation.
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Click here (26 February) to see the posts of prior years.  I started this blog in late 2009.  Daily posting began in late January 2011.  Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts.

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A Permanent Spark Inside

Human Music
It is the tradition in Wales, as I am sure in many other places, to welcome in the New Year with a concert or other musical event.  So I found myself last night in the village hall listening to two local bands playing.  Now I do not have a musical bone in my body, I can play no musical instruments and totally lack any sense of rhythm.  But I still enjoy music and have fairly catholic tastes, I can usually find something in all forms of music that appeals to me.  When I was young I used to be adamant that I didn’t like Opera but that was before I took my daughter to Die Valkyrie and I discovered I was a Wagner fan.  Similarly my disdain for Country music evaporated when I worked for a period in Columbia S.C. and subsequently discovered Hootie and the Blowfish.  I am pretty confident that there will be something in all types of music that I will be able to find enjoyable.
I presume this is because music is such a basic form of communication between us.  We may not share the same language as someone else and we may not be able to exchange many facts with them.  But through music we are able to convey feelings and emotions with others though we do not share any tongue in common.  It is very likely that in our species the development of language and that of music are closely intertwined.  It is hard to think of a human celebration that doesn’t use music – not only the pleasures of the Wedding March” or the songs of praise at worship, but also the sad or fearful times of our lives with the funeral marches, The Last Post or even the skirl of the pipes as armies are lead into battle.  Even those of us, like myself, who can play no instruments nor compose any songs still have music in our lives.  As Nietzsche that ardent atheist and nihilist said “Without music, life would be a mistake“.  This may have revealed the chink in his theories;  as when we sing to ourselves, through happiness, fear or sadness, we are showing that there are always two of us present.  The singer, that associated with our bodies and the present, and the listener, that spark inside, which is our permanent core.
It is that ability to communicate that makes music enjoyable to me and is why I always prefer real, live, human music to reproduced music no matter how good it is.  I enjoyed my evening listening to two local bands (who were, incidentally, excellent) in the company of my friends and neighbours.  Hearing music made ‘up close and personal’, with all the content (the coughs, the mistakes, the breathing, the fluffed notes) carries much more emotion than simply the song or tune itself.  You understand the emotion or concentration far better when you can see the facial expressions or sweat of the performers.  No matter how good the recording on my CD may be, the effect of being so close to he performers and the audience makes live music superior every time.
I have been to live music events in arenas and stadia.  But I much prefer small scale, local musical events – music on a human scale.  When I attend other concerts I was part of a much greater crowd, for example when hearing “Yes” or “Andre Rieu” but this was not as part of a real community.  In these events we were all either old or young, classical or jazz lovers, fans of a band or genre.  We were a tribe.  We were not a living breathing community with the young and the old, the rich and the poor, the academic and the farmer, all coming together to share enjoyment and welcome the start of another year.  In these large events you can loose your individuality to become part of the mass and you make no links to others in that mob. In small events you keep your individuality and start to recognise other individuals and create links with them.  Not only sharing the music but communicating about it as well.  Last night created the links that are the glue that will hold our community together over the coming year.
When I think back to my own childhood and recall Hogmanay’s of years ago.  While I can remember the drinking and the carousing, the strongest memories I have are of the singing.  I remember us, as children, singing to the adults.  I remember my Mum and Dad singing to the gathered people and I remember my parents singing with their neighbours.  I remember when older, and a student in the city, walking the streets on Hogmany looking for parties and knowing where to go by hearing the signing from the windows.  If there was no singing there was no point in knocking on the door!  Despite the pleasure that can be had from mass produced commercial music it would be a great shame is we lost the home grown, local, small scale musical events.  We should be careful that we don’t allow increased personal access to music to reduce our shared communal appreciation of music as the latter is by far the more important.
Blwyddyn Newydd Dda / Happy New year
—   henacynflin
(for those who don’t speak Welsh, “henacynflin” roughly translates to “old man” in English)
[This post was found on a blog I follow: Looking Back In Sadness at:  https://henacynflin.wordpress.com/
The original post can be found at:  https://henacynflin.wordpress.com/2019/01/03/5707/
This is an “unusual” post for me as I don’t normally re-post and entire post by another blogger.  I have made the exception here because the total means more to me than any of its parts (sentences or paragraphs).  The post is several years old, but it means more to me now than it did in 2019 as I have now spent some years trying to learn to play an instrument myself.  (LoL)
Please visit the original site if you have some spare time.
Disclaimer:  This post / blog belongs to the original writer (“henacynflin“) and / or his site / blog:  “Looking Back In Sadness“.  I am making no claim to ownership and am merely offering it on my site because the words “touched / moved” me.  The post is being reprinted without prior authorization or permission and I will remove it or attempt to abbreviate it if requested by the author / owner.    —    kmab]
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Click here (1 February) to see the posts of prior years.  I started this blog in late 2009.  Daily posting began in late January 2011.  Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts.

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