Anyone else remember this movie? It was not a runaway hit – in fact box office receipts were poor – but it dates from a time when films like this were still shown at the local theater. It sprang to mind yesterday, as it always does, on Felix Mendelssohn’s birthday.
Woody Allen has always had a good ear for music. In fact, from “Love and Death” (with its wall-to-wall Prokofiev) on, with few exceptions, he’s basically dipped into his own record collection to gussy up the soundtracks of his films. “A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy,” unsurprisingly, draws on a lot of Mendelssohn.
Often on composer birthdays, if I have the time and the opportunity, I’ll “celebrate” by pulling some of his or her music from the shelf. Yesterday, since I was in the car for a bit, I had a chance to listen to Mendelssohn’s Cello Sonata No. 2 (with Lynn Harrell and Bruno Canino) and the Piano Concerto 2 (with Rudolf Serkin and the Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Eugene Ormandy). The slow movement of the latter is used to evocative effect in Woody’s film. I still think of Woody and Mia in period costume sweetly kissing by a brook whenever I hear it.
The soundtrack also sports needle-drops of the “Scottish” Symphony (for an enchanting wildlife montage), the Violin Concerto (a rampage with a bow and arrow), and, of course, the overture and incidental music to “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” (the scherzo supporting Woody on a flying bicycle!), all brilliantly employed.
The film is set in Upstate New York at the turn of last century. The plot is a farcical one, with love and desire sowing chaos among three couples who meet for a summer getaway in the country. Clearly, Woody draws on his affection for foreign films (especially, but not exclusively, Ingmar Bergman’s “Smiles of a Summer Night”). Our omniscient viewpoint allows us to chuckle at the havoc and heartache. What fools these mortals be!
I remember critics were largely underwhelmed by it, appearing as it did post-“Annie Hall” and “Manhattan,” which resulted in middling reviews. “Stardust Memories” already had everyone feeling a little disoriented. Where were the rapid-fire jokes and slapstick situations of the earlier films?
“A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy” is no knee-slapper, but it is consistently entertaining, a little thought provoking (but not too much), and my, is it gorgeous to look at. (The cinematography is by Gordon Willis and the costumes by Santo Loquasto, who hailed from my hometown of Easton, PA.) It also provides the great José Ferrer for once with a role worthy of his talents at a time when he was doing a lot of guest shots on television and films like “Zoltan… Hound of Dracula.”
I was 16 when “A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy” was released in 1982, and I loved it. But I loved everything Woody back then, from repeated viewings of the earlier films (“Take the Money and Run,” “Bananas,” and “Sleeper”) on television to every new release. Up through the turn of the 21st century, he was surprisingly consistent, although I would argue that his last “masterpiece” was “Crimes and Misdemeanors” in 1989.
That’s not to say I don’t find at least some enjoyment in some of his later movies, but they often seem to retread the themes he already explored so satisfyingly in better films, and the Woody surrogate – a younger actor clearly imitating Allen – gets old pretty quickly. It requires an enormous suspension of disbelief to accept that 20 year-olds listen to Harry James anymore.
And then there’s the whole drama of his personal life, with its elements of sideshow freakery and tabloid sordidness, that’s colored everything. It’s dispiriting. There was a time when Woody Allen was one of our great American filmmakers. I don’t want to be yanked out of the experience of enjoying “Manhattan” by something that flips the “ick” switch in a way it might not have in 1979.
The heart wants what it wants. And mine wants to continue to be able to enjoy early and middle-period Woody Allen movies.
There were two films I remember watching whenever they turned up on HBO. One was “Excalibur,” and the other was “A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy.” A true brawn-and-brains double feature! To know this about me is to gain a window into the kind of truly peculiar teenager I was.
Woody Allen and Felix Mendelssohn, enjoyments out of season. “A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy” streams free, with commercials, on Tubi.
https://tubitv.com/movies/306937/a-midsummer-night-s-sex-comedy
Woody Allen and Felix Mendelssohn, Enjoyments Out of Season
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22 responses
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22 responses to “Woody Allen and Felix Mendelssohn, Enjoyments Out of Season”
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You don’t like “Midnight in Paris”? That’s my all time favorite…
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It was okay. For me, three stars of out four. Personally, I thought it was overrated, but I’m glad you liked it. You are not the only one! (I hasten to add, “A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy” is probably also a three star movie. But I like it a lot better!)
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Classic Ross Amico My mother loved “Midnight in Paris”! It was one of our great shared experiences in her later years. I gave her a Bechet CD for Christmas in 2011 (now part of my collection) and she played it often.
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I have two irritations with Woody, one, his constant use of records, never any new songs or music, and never any gay characters at all.
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Zlat Zlat Strange to criticize an artist for not being something other than he is. Woody wouldn’t be Woody without scratchy old Sidney Bechet records. Are you irritated by Victor Cafe for playing nothing but opera 78s? Woody did hire Philip Glass to write music for “Cassandra’s Crossing.”
As for gay characters, he’s of a generation that you probably should be thankful that he hasn’t. It would be like putting a gay character in a Mel Brooks movie. (Remember, this is the guy who wisecracked in “Love and Death,” “He was so depressed, he tried to commit suicide by inhaling next to an Armenian.”) There have been a few in Woody’s films, actually, notably his character’s lesbian ex-wife, played by Meryl Streep, in “Manhattan,” and Gertrude Stein, played by Kathy Bates, in “Midnight in Paris.” Both fairly respectfully handled, as I recall. Somewhere in his vast output, there might be some other, stereotypical characterizations of homosexuals, of a sort that would be frowned upon in polite society today, but right now I can’t think of any.
EDIT: Oh god. I forgot about the gay robot in “Sleeper!”
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Good points. I think some of his role was edited out later, but Hedley LaMarr seemed very gay to me. I don’t remember Cassandra’s Crossing, though I saw it. Woody could have the records, but he could have had new songs written by Dick Hyman in the same styles. Of course, many other New York characters tend to be missing in his movies, being so Upper East Side-based. Still, it’s not natural.
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Zlat Zlat Dick Hyman did work on some of his films. Without reflecting on it or doing the research, I’m not sure what I’d come up with. Unfortunately, I’m kind of busy today. As for Woody’s “artifice,” is Wes Anderson, to name one, any more “natural”? These guys aren’t shooting documentaries. If you don’t like somebody’s stuff, you just watch somebody else’s. There are plenty of gay filmmakers, as well as straight filmmakers who have directed sympathetic portrayals of rounded gay characters. As is often attributed to Mark Twain, you write what you know. The things you’re interested in may just not be the center of Woody Allen’s world. That’s not a criticism. We’re all different. All I want to do is talk about Sibelius all day. How many people would put up with that?
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Classic Ross Amico It’s simply given the great number of movies he has made, that the omission of gay characters becomes a glaring exclusion. There is no one else making comparable movies today. It’s not asking a lot of him, he surely knows gay people, works with them.
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I too feel conflicted about his films for the reasons you enumerate— I remember the lushness of this film. “Love and Death” is my all- time favorite, which uses a lot of great Russian music in great ways. (I’d forgotten the Armenian slur— I’ve been to Armenia, and the slur is woefully inaccurate besides being mean) Yet the early films hold such gems— who can forget playing cello in a marching band?
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I LOVE “Love and Death.” And yes, Virgil Starkwell playing cello in the marching band, ha ha!
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My late mother and I loved and enjoyed all his films.
I loathe the current day censorious attitude and dusrespect people take towards almost everything these days, especially since he hasn’t been tried or convicted of anything. Not yet anyway.
Did you and Roy ever cover Sleeper?
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Brennan Morsette No, but I keep nudging him toward it! My mom was a fan too.
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Classic Ross AmicoWoody was the same age as both of my parents. They both loved Radio Days for this reason.
I loved Sleeper as an 8 year old. Although…looking forward back on it now, I must have missed half the jokes as a child. -
Brennan Morsette I just rewatched “Radio Days” a couple of weeks ago! I must be your parents’ age too, because I also love it. 😉
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It is very hard for me to watch his movies, especially ones that he’s featured in…maybe because I have a daughter? I don’t know, but I also cannot really watch Roman Polanski’s films either anymore. Sigh.
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Ann Losee It’s too bad Woody’s in all his best movies!
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Ann Losee Too bad for you, Woody’s in all his best movies! But I understand your reservations.
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So interesting, music & drama. When younger, I read an old book, “Pop Goes America” which refers to Woody as a new voice. The freedom of humour is what keeps us sane as a species. Midsummer is a beautiful gem that I admire for it’s historic references along with the “psychology” of couples. Thanks Ross🌷
We’ll all be out starting our VW beetles when the power shuts down.-
Eliza Wall My mom loved her VW Beetle! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ctin21yrfcA
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Yes, anyone who has spent time in them, felt their charm. Thanks for the clip🌻
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“I loved Ivan for his vowels.”
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Michael Kownacky “Life is unbearable.”
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