Pictured is Puck and Oberon and it gives a feel of what the movie was like. The film really brought to light how dark and twisted it is for Oberon to drug his wife and make her fall in love with an ass just because he's annoyed with her. Even more twisted is Puck, who seems to find pleasure in tormenting Hermia, Helena, Lysander, and Demetrius; although Hermia is seen to be a little creepy herself with her stalking of Demetrius. I'd never fully appreciated the parallel between the actor's company and the Athenian lovers but this adaption showed how the play at the end reveals their own faults and virtues. Their mockery of the play is another parallel to the fairies mockery of their lives, and just as they find they do like the play at the end, the fairies bless their house with peace.
Sunday, September 13, 2015
A Midsummer Nightmare
When I read Shakespeare I often like to watch an adaption as I go through the lines so I can get the full affect of the play. For A Midsummer Night's dream, I found the most bizarre adaption on Netflix and it changed my entire view of the play. It was a more lascivious and surreal version than I had ever seen before. The actor who played Puck was a little unsettling and when he teamed up with Oberon their manipulations seemed a lot darker than when read.
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I never thought of A Midsummer Night's Dream to be dark but I was somewhat influenced by what lighthearted things people have said about it. This play can be quite the messed up play when put into the setting that apparently this adaptation has.
ReplyDeleteI would be interesting in watching the version of the play that you talked about. It's amazing how popular Shakespeare is, and how many times his plays can be done over and over again and can still be changed and interpreted differently. I think it shows the flexibility of the text. It seems like with a novel it would be more difficult to translate it so many ways, but with a play with only words it is probably a lot more fluid.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was watching the play it did strike me how malicious Puck appears to be, especially when he enjoys watching the chaos he created among the young lovers. It is interesting that this version decided to play up the dark side of the comedy and make it look downright creepy. In your opinion, did presenting it that way take away from the comedy or merely make it darker?
ReplyDeleteThat reminds me of fairy tales in general. The genre itself is really dark, especially going back to the originals like the Brothers Grimm. Shakespeare was making a comedy, but whenever you have fairies you can't always escape their darker past (Tinker Bell excepted).
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