''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' () is a 1959

Czechoslovak Czechoslovak may refer to: *A demonym or adjective pertaining to Czechoslovakia (1918–93) **First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–38) **Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–39) **Third Czechoslovak Republic (1948–60) ** Fourth Czechoslovak Repu ...

animated puppet film directed by Jiří Trnka, his last feature length film before his death 10 years later in 1969. It is based on the

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

play of the same name.

Production

Trnka, working under the Czech communist regime who had previously been denied in his wish to adapt ''

Don Quixote , the full title being ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'', is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, the novel is considered a founding work of Western literature and is of ...

'', worked for several years on his adaptation of ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a Comedy (drama), comedy play written by William Shakespeare in about 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One s ...

''. The film established a new pinnacle of craftmanship. Beyond the artistic aspects the film was technically advanced. Trnka used expensive

Eastmancolor Eastmancolor is a trade name used by Eastman Kodak for a number of related film and processing technologies associated with color motion picture production and referring to George Eastman, founder of Kodak. Eastmancolor, introduced in 1950, was o ...

stock* Every scene was shot with two cameras simultaneously—one shooting

Academy ratio The Academy ratio of 1.375:1 (abbreviated as 1.37:1) is an aspect ratio (image), aspect ratio of a film frame, frame of 35 mm movie film, 35 mm film when used with negative pulldown, 4-perf pulldown.Monaco, James. ''How to Read a Film: The A ...

, and one shooting in the then new

CinemaScope CinemaScope is an anamorphic format, anamorphic lens series used, from 1953 to 1967, and less often later, for shooting widescreen films that, crucially, could be screened in theatres using existing equipment, albeit with a lens adapter. Its cr ...

format, effectively producing an in-camera pan-and-scan version—all so Trnka could ensure that his widescreen production would not be presented

letterboxed Letter-boxing is the practice of transferring film shot in a widescreen aspect ratio to standard-width video formats while preserving the film's original aspect ratio. The resulting video-graphic image has mattes of empty space above and belo ...

. The film thus exists in ''two'' definitive editions. Garik Seko, a Georgian born animator from Zlin worked in the movie as an assistant. This is because the film cooperated with Czech animator Vlasta Jurajdova and co-existed with another work from Hermina Tyrlova namely ''Vlacek Kolejacek'' (''The Little Train''). They returned in 1976 for the short film, ''O mistru Hanusovi''. The score was composed by Václav Trojan.

Reception and legacy

The film received a lukewarm initial response, but was entered into the 1959 Cannes Film Festival where it tied for the (the selection of the Technical Committee) alongside Vojtěch Jasný's ''

Desire Desires are states of mind that are expressed by terms like "wanting", "wishing", "longing" or "craving". A great variety of features is commonly associated with desires. They are seen as propositional attitudes towards conceivable states of affa ...

'' (). It also won an Honourable Medal at the

20th Venice International Film Festival The 20th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 23 August to 6 September 1959. Italian film critic Luigi Chiarini was the Jury President for the main competition. The Golden Lion was awarded to '' The Great War'' directed by Mari ...

in 1959; first prize for best film in Bucharest in 1960; second prize in Montevideo in 1960; and first prize—the "Golden Mercury"—for music in Valencia in 1962.

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

magazine included the film in the Top 10 foreign movies of 1961. Cerise Howard, discussing the film in a retrospective on Trnka for ''

Senses of Cinema ''Senses of Cinema'' is a quarterly online film magazine founded in 1999 by filmmaker Bill Mousoulis. Based in Melbourne, Australia, ''Senses of Cinema'' publishes work by film critics from all over the world, including critical essays, career ...

'', describes the puppet animation as "more liquid, more balletic than ever"; the scenes between Nick Bottom and Titania are "achingly tender"; Titania's train is "an especially astonishing, luminous creation… constituted of tens of fairies, individually animated amidst reams of gorgeous, extensive coral garlanding". Overall the film is "distinguished by exquisite design throughout".

English-language version

An English-language version was made with narration by

Richard Burton Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his mellifluous baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s and gave a memor ...

and voice work by

Alec McCowen Alexander Duncan McCowen, (26 May 1925 – 6 February 2017) was an English actor. He was known for his work in numerous film and stage productions. Early life McCowen was born in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, the son of Mary (née Walkden), a dancer ...

Voice cast

* Hugh Manning as

Theseus Theseus (, ; ) was a divine hero in Greek mythology, famous for slaying the Minotaur. The myths surrounding Theseus, his journeys, exploits, and friends, have provided material for storytelling throughout the ages. Theseus is sometimes desc ...

* Laura Graham as

Hippolyta In Greek mythology, Hippolyta, or Hippolyte (; ''Hippolytē''), was a daughter of Ares and Otrera,Hyginus, ''Fabulae'', 30 queen of the Amazons, and a sister of Antiope and Melanippe. She wore her father Ares' ''zoster'', the Greek word foun ...

* Jack Gwillim as

Oberon Oberon () is a king of the fairy, fairies in Middle Ages, medieval and Renaissance literature. He is best known as a character in William Shakespeare's play ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', in which he is King of the Fairies and spouse of Titania ...

* Barbara Jefford as Titania * Roger Shepherd as Puck *

as Nick Bottom * Ann Bell as Hermia * Barbara Leigh-Hunt as Helena *

Joss Ackland Sidney Edmond Jocelyn Ackland (29 February 1928 – 19 November 2023) was an English actor who appeared in more than 130 film, radio and television roles. He was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for portraying ...

as Peter Quince * Michael Meacham as

Demetrius Demetrius is the Latinization of names, Latinized form of the Ancient Greek male name, male Greek given names, given name ''Dēmḗtrios'' (), meaning "devoted to goddess Demeter". Alternate forms include Demetrios, Dimitrios, Dimitris, Dmytro, ...

* Stephen Moore as Francis Flute * Tom Criddle as

Lysander Lysander (; ; 454 BC – 395 BC) was a Spartan military and political leader. He destroyed the Athenian fleet at the Battle of Aegospotami in 405 BC, forcing Athens to capitulate and bringing the Peloponnesian War to an end. He then played ...

References

Bibliography

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Midsummer Night's Dream 1959 films 1959 animated films 1950s stop-motion animated films Animated adaptations of William Shakespeare Czechoslovak animated films 1950s Czech-language films Czech fantasy films Animated films about fairies Films directed by Jiří Trnka Films based on A Midsummer Night's Dream Puppet films Films with screenplays by Jiří Brdečka Czech animated comedy films Czech animated romance films