FTLComm - Tisdale - December 5, 1999
As we consider the past century and contemplate the accomplishments of the first two thousand years of our calendar, the story teller who has since creating his work in the late part of the sixteenth century, been able to reach all of us, generation after generation, has been William Shakespeare. For years, North American schools have seen that students go through at least three tragedies and one comedy, as they pass through their years in high school. For a very long time the average
		Canadian and American's first experience with William Shakespeare was the comedy A Midsummers Night's Dream. Grade nine was not complete without working your way through this odd little play with these curious characters. A group of tradesman who were going to perform a play for the local Duke, two couples having difficulties with their relationships, and a host of amazing fairies and supernatural creatures including the arch trickster "Puck". All of us who went through that play got something from it, but even though I have taught the thing at least to one grade nine class, I never really saw it until I watched this Hollywood version released this past spring. The movie did not get wide play and though was not a flop it was considerably less then a stellar success at the box office. Now available for home rental I rate it as a "Must see". The dialogue is pure Shakespeare but the contextual action
		and stunning performance by the cast make you lose aware-
		ness of the language in less then a minute after the movie begins. Filmed in a manner that fills the screen with illusion and elegant detail, you are transported to share in this adventure. Michael Hoffman wrote the screen play for the project, is one of the producers of it and directed the action and this is a piece of Shakespeare that will be available for years to come, to savour Shakespeare and this brilliant timeless story. You do not have to be a fancier of literature or some artsy person to enjoy this film. The comedy is real and fresh just as the farce seems as modern as the very best of Seinfeld. To bring the characters to life Hoffman has a cast that engages you and involves you in the crazy plot. Calista Flockhart from Ally McBeal is utterly convincing as she pursues a man who thinks he should marry another, while Kevin Kline makes the brash and bold Bottom the Weaver a ham that we love immediately.
		Michelle Pfeiffer is the Queen of the fairies and any viewer understands completely why Oberon longs to renew their relationship even if it takes a few potions to make it happen. Perhaps it is the classic and universal appeal of this story that has so much to say to its audience Certainly, Michael Hoffman and his cast tell us the story, but what a story! The reason Shakespeare continues to be as popular as ever, is simply because of its outstanding range of emotions and common themes that affect every human being. How wonderful it would be that confusing feelings of love could not be sorted out with a few misplaced, or well placed, potions and shouldn't all things come out right in the end? The movie is set in the late Victorian era with bicycle's and phonographs, but that setting could have been anywhere in time, as the story comes forth shining through the ages. However, the Victorian age and its fondness for ridiculous
		farcical dramas is perfect for the play that is so much a part
		of the essence of this story. The casting, the rehearsal in the forest and the production before the Duke work. As bazaar as it seems the production of the play is what we expect from this group of guys and their elaborate carrying on to carry it off. The really remarkable thing about this part in the story is how thoroughly each member of the cast is able to project and be defined. It is a credit to not only Michael Hoffman's direction but to the extraordinary quality of the performances of each of these minor parts. As a student and teacher, the fairy business to me was always so silly. I just thought that Shakespeare had been either drinking to much, or lost touch with reality with this part of the play. But in this film, the fairy world makes a kind of sense, a dual reality, a harmonious realm that exists alongside the lives of mortals and interacts with their existence, making both the lives of the fairyland people and that of the humans, more important and meaningful.
		The character "Puck" is far more universal then we might first surmise. This bumbling and capricious trickster is found in one form or another in a large number of European classical stories as well as in Greek literature. Here in North America the use of a random chaos introducing character into the lives of humans, is woven throughout the rich oral history of our Aboriginal people. Along the West coast people the character is often referred to as "The Raven" but other cultures formulate a similar character in the form of the "Bushman". In fact, almost every North American culture has an example of this sort of character and when we realise that, then we will notice that our modern day world seems to be filled with contemporary versions of Puck. There are some odd things about Bugs Bunny and though Disney's creative mind produced some interesting characters his superficial nature prevented him from taking his characters into the realms of real mystery. Alice in Wonder-
		land, The Wizard of Oz, and of course "Peter Pan" all have
		the twinkle that we identify with Puck. It might be said that the way we treat technology as our modern alternate universe and attributing "bugs" as the random chaos creating element is just another manifestation of this theme. There is a sense of relief when we accept the fact that things sometimes get mixed up and that we who want ever so much to be in control of things discover to our consternation that sometimes things just happen and there seems to be no reason. A lot of this covered with the label "bad luck" but if you question folks a little more about bad luck, you will discover that they most often have some pretty wild concepts about what is causing the bad luck. To carry this further, it is positively amazing the level of simple "good luck" / "bad Luck" elements are present in most sports, amateur and pro alike. The idea that we are all somehow pawns in the great scheme of things has been with us through out our history as a species and is unlikely to ever go away. Modern science has
		stepped in to make us all feel a little smaller and then we have
		the universal "they" to blame for things that do not seem to be going as planned. In this Play/Movie, things work out and hence it is a comedy, the young people get sorted out and their future seems secured. (Though this image suggests otherwise this is really a family show and children of all ages will delight in the rich- ness of the illusion and simple comedy) Shakespeare set his audience up from the very start to be on the side of his main characters so that when things work out, we all can feel satisfied and cheerfully agree upon the superior outcome. It is because these characters are so well developed and that we can identify with them so strongly that this happens.
		Not all renditions of Shakespeare's plays have been successful Zepherelli's Romeo and Juliet is one of the best ever and Kenneth Brennon's Henry is not only great Shakespeare, but one of the best all time movies made. Michael Hoffman's Midsummers Night's Dream is a classic because it takes the play and presents it to the audience and the translation from word to visual image is masterfully done. At Christmas we are bombed out with such schmaltzy attempts by Hollywood to give us some memorable family entertainment and few efforts come close. I am recommending that you share with your family this great little movie and feel transported to worlds beyond with the best story teller of the millennium and a rendition of his belly laughing comedy that will entertain, enlighten and be absolutely memorable. Timothy W. Shire