BEFORE: With Woody Allen carrying over as an actor yet again, and with me about a third of the way through his filmography, it's time to assess - what have I learned so far? I think I've determined that the lovable loser persona that he developed was essentially a put-on, and once he transitioned from comedies to dramas, there was more willingness to make semi-autobiographical films about his relationships. Even if the actresses in question were no longer linked to him romantically, apparently they all maintained some form of professional friendship. And with that, we kick off the "Mia Farrow" films tonight.
THE PLOT: A wacky inventor and his wife invite two other couples for a weekend party at a romantic summer house in the 1900s countryside.
AFTER: The obvious title reference is to Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream", and thankfully I watched a version of that about a month ago, but the plot is more of a nod to Ingmar Bergman's "Smiles of a Summer Night", about which I know nothing. So without any experience with Swedish films, I'm left to just take the film as it appears, which is something of a bedroom farce, with three couples swapping partners, and nearly every character being partnered with one lover while dreaming of being with another.
Woody's character, Andrew, is married but his wife has lost all interest in sex, and that once again sets off his trademark neurosis and introspection. Andrew is a inventor of dubious acclaim, having created a prototype helicopter that seems to work when the plot needs it to work, but also crashes when the plot needs it to crash, or for comic effect. He's also invented some kind of prototype film projector, however he believes that it is somehow a link to the spirit world, as there is talk about "ectoplasm" and it's used under seance-like conditions. Which leads to another question - what year does this take place? There is an old motor-car seen, so perhaps it's set in the 1920's?
Andrew's faithfulness is tested when his engaged older cousin comes to stay at his house, and his cousin's fiancée is a woman that he has some history with. They apparently never slept together, but they wanted to, and this is a source of great regret, which is another source of anxiety. But Andrew's not the only one who falls for the fiancée, his best friend Maxwell, a doctor, also feels an attraction to her. Maxwell brought his nurse to the countryside as his date, but also seems to have some history with Andrew's wife, so really the romantic possibilities for these 6 people are nearly endless, and everyone seems to have at least two possible partners. The cousin seems at first to be left out in the cold, but he eventually gets paired up with the nurse, which makes sense only because she's the only other person in the house without a lover at that point.
The dialogue feels mostly improvised, which seems like both a help and a hindrance at the same time. It helps the film because the conversations tend to feel natural and unrehearsed, but it's a hindrance because at times it seems like the characters aren't sure if they should be working together toward the same goals, or if they should remain at cross purposes with one another. The first rule of improv is the "Yes" rule - whatever one character suggests to another, the other person should agree to, because the first person could have some kind of plan in mind, and saying "No" will nip that in the bud.
But this doesn't really work when sex is involved, because the first character would say, "Do you want to make out?" and then if the 2nd character says, "Yes", well the dramatic tension and anxiety's pretty much over at that point, right? So instead the 2nd character has to say, "No", at least at first, in order to maintain the chase. It sorts of strains the bounds of credulity to think that people would come together and separate in such an organized fashion, something akin to a square dance where everyone changes partners, but it's probably best just to accept this as a contrivance and move on.
Also starring Mary Steenburgen (last seen in "The Help"), Mia Farrow (last seen in "The Omen"), Tony Roberts (also carrying over from "Stardust Memories"), Jose Ferrer, Julie Hagerty (last seen in "U Turn"),
RATING: 5 out of 10 butterfly nets
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