A Midsummer Night's Dream (1959 film)

Trnka, working under the Czech communist regime who had previously been denied in his wish to adapt Don Quixote, worked for several years on his adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream. The film established a new pinnacle of craftmanship: Cerise Howard, discussing the film in a retrospective on Trnka for Senses of Cinema, describes the puppet animation as "more liquid, more balletic than ever";[5] the scenes between Nick Bottom and Titania are "achingly tender";[5] Titania's train is "an especially astonishing, luminous creation … constituted of tens of fairies, individually animated amidst reams of gorgeous, extensive coral garlanding".[5] Overall the film is "distinguished by exquisite design throughout".[5]

Beyond the artistic aspects the film was technically advanced. Trnka used expensive Eastmancolor stock, which was "exceedingly rare for Czech productions of the period".[5] Every scene was shot with two cameras simultaneously—one shooting Academy ratio, and one shooting in the then new CinemaScope format, effectively producing an in-camera Pan-and-scan version—all so Trnka could ensure that his widescreen production would not be presented letterboxed. The film thus exists in two definitive editions.[5]

The score was provided by Václav Trojan.[6]

The film received a lukewarm initial response,[5] but was entered into the 1959 Cannes Film Festival where it tied for the Prix de la meilleure sélection (the selection of the Technical Committee) alongside Vojtěch Jasný's Desire (Czech: Touha).[7] It also won an Honourable Medal at the 20th Venice International Film Festival 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.[8]

An English-language dubbed version was made with narration by Richard Burton and voice work by Alec McCowen.[9][10]

• A Midsummer Night's Dream on IMDb