One of Jiří Trnka's masterpieces, the widescreen puppet film A Midsummer Night's Dream (1959), is a unique adaptation of William Shakespeare's famous play, set on a June night when the story of two couples unluckily in love, theatre-obsessed craftsmen and supernatural beings takes place near Athens. These different worlds collide in a forest full of magic, and all the characters have their own dreamlike adventures. – Jiří Trnka, with the help of Jiří Brdečka, adapted the drama for the purposes of a puppet musical pantomime. In contrast to the original intention, however, he was eventually forced to add commentary to the parts with a complex plot (the later version for the USA in 1961 was supplemented with complete dialogue and a commentary by Richard Burton). The difficult task of making Shakespeare almost wordless was also accomplished thanks to the music of Václav Trojan, who had already worked on the musical accompaniment to the play's performance at the Uranie Theatre (1943) and its radio dramatization (1952). The music from the film was later used for a ballet performance (Trnka's film can also be considered a ballet) at the State Theatre in Brno, later depicted in the film Sen noci… (1985; dir. Vladimír Sís). – Years later this unique project still inspires respect and admiration. The filming itself took almost two years and it is the most demanding animated film produced in our country. It contains narrative, mostly exterior scenes with numerous details (for example, more than a hundred small objects move on the cloak of Queen Titania), many tricks and many dance scenes. A Midsummer Night's Dream was shot in CinemaScope format (with a classical version being made simultaneously in case it would be needed), making it the world's first widescreen puppet film. Despite his initial scepticism, Trnka tried to make creative use of the unusual format and emphasise the artistic monumentality of the work. Interesting is the frequent playing out of parallel plots in different parts of the screen, or, on the contrary, the "masking" of parts of the picture. New, realistic materials were used to create the puppets. Trnka's studio once again brought together the best Czech animators, most of them working on their own projects at the time. Among them, the starting animator and director Vlasta Pospíšilová, née Jurajdová. – The documentary filmmaker Václav Táborský recorded the process of the preparations and filming in a short film A Midsummer Night's Reality (1959), which was included as a pre-film in the renewed distribution in 2000.
Athens. The beautiful Hermia is promised to the soldier Demetrius, but she has long since given her heart to the bohemian flute player Lysander. Amazed by his playing under the window, she ignores Demetrius' knocking. Insulted, the soldier initiates a duel. Hermia's father Egeus, who is of course on the groom's side, takes the rivals to the ruler Theseus. His verdict is in Demetrius' favour. – The whole Athens prepare for the wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons. – Hermia and Lysander flee into the forest. Helen, who is in love and has been trying to seduce Demetrius, tells him of their escape. – Six Athenian craftsmen, under the guidance of the carpenter Peter Quince, prepare a play for tomorrow's celebration. The most ambitious of them, Nick Bottom the weaver, would prefer to play all the parts himself. The volunteers are rehearsing the classic theme of the lovers Pyramus and Thisbe. With the noisy preparations for the celebrations, the actors have no time to rehearse in the city, so they move from Peter Quince's workshop to the forest. – The ruler there, Oberon, King of the Elves, seeks the heart of Titania, Queen of the Fairies, but she stubbornly refuses him. So, the king sends the mischievous elf Puck to a distant island for a magical flower. Whoever smells it will fall in love with the first creature he sees. – Into the forest come the craftsmen, then Lysander and Hermia, followed by Demetrius and the sneaking Helena. – Oberon orders Puck to fix the situation with the leader of the soldier who is sabotaging happy love. Puck gets confused in the dark and accidentally charms Lysander, who wakes up and sees Helena first. – Oberon watches the theatrical rehearsal for a while and then orders Puck to disperse the amateur actors and punish Nick Bottom for his bragging. Puck puts a donkey's head on the weaver and the scared actors run away. – Oberon continues his revenge: he gives Titania a sniff and makes her fall in love with Bottom. He does not resist the affections of the queen and her servants. – Hermia wakes up, but Lysander is gone. – Oberon tells Puck off for his mistake. He tries to make fix the situation and allows Demetrius to fall in love with Helena, who is, of course, being seduced by Lysander. The rivals begin to fight over her, and Puck must intervene again. This time he sets things right. – Eventually has Oberon mercy with Titania. He cuts Peter Quince out and puts himself in his place. At dawn, Quince awakens and summons his scattered friends. – Theseus arrives in the forest with his bride-to-be. During the hunt, they encounter two sleeping lovers. Hermia's father has the right to kill Lysander, but moved by his sincere love, he agrees to let his daughter marry her chosen one. – There are now three wedding in Athens. The celebration is accompanied by performers' shows and amateur actors from theatre. They prepared a play about a couple, to whom stood everything in the way: first the wall, then the lion, and only death brought them together. Just when the actors do not know how to carry on their play, Puck intervenes. Thanks to a flower and a conjured phantom, Quince delivers a moving performance. The show is a great and well-deserved success. – It is night again. Puck metaphorically sweeps away all that is ugly and deceitful. – The commentary assures the audience that all that has happened here was a dream of Shakespeare's.
The film was shot in both widescreen (system Totalvision Paris 1:2.35) and conventional (1:1.37) film formats. The Eastmancolor film material was processed by Eclair Laboratories in Paris. In its American distribution in 1961, the film included dialogue in addition to commentary and was directed by Howard Sackler, voiced by Richard Burton, Alec McCowen, Jack Gwillin, Barbara Jefford and Barbara Leigh-Hunt. The film was re-released in January 2000 accompanied by the documentary A Midsummer Night's Reality (1959).
William Shakespeare (Sen noci svatojánské – divadelní hra)
Jiří Trnka, Jiří Brdečka (spolupráce na scénáři)
Jiří Trnka, Jaroslav Kulhánek (sochy)
Emanuel Formánek, Josef Vlček, Emil Poledník, Karel Horčička (zvukové efekty)
Bohuslav Šrámek (hra loutek řemeslníků athénských), Stanislav Látal (hra loutek milenců, dvora Thesea a Hippolyty a světa Oberona a Titanie), Břetislav Pojar (hra loutek milenců a světa Oberona a Titanie), Jan Karpaš (hra loutek světa Oberona a Titanie), Jan Adam (spolupráce na hře loutek), Vlasta Jurajdová (spolupráce na hře loutek)
Jiří Vaněk (vedoucí ateliéru)
František Braun (spolupráce na loutkách a scéně), Josef Novák (spolupráce na loutkách a scéně), Karel Sobotka (spolupráce na loutkách a scéně), Hynek Hlouch (spolupráce na loutkách a scéně), Garik Seko (spolupráce na loutkách a scéně), Marta Vlčková (spolupráce na loutkách a scéně), Věra Matějů (spolupráce na loutkách a scéně)
Václav Mervart (technická spolupráce), Josef Zdrůbecký (technická spolupráce), E. Tchýn, Jindřich Hrdina, Gustav Bezděkovský, Jiří Šafář (fotograf), Jiří Vojta (fotograf)
Česká filharmonie (Music Conducted by Karel Ančerl), Kühnův dětský sbor (Music Conducted by Markéta Kühnová)
Sen noci svatojanské
Sen noci svatojanské
A Midsummer Night's Dream
film
animatedtheatrical distribution
comedy, fairytale
Czechoslovakia
1959
1957—1959
literary Screenplay approved 06/1956
start of filming 1 February 1957
end of filming 5 March 1959
projection approval 24 June 1959
withdrawal from distribution 30 September 1991
preview 4 June 1959 (kino Alfa, Praha /jednorázové uvedení v rámci Přehlídky nových českých filmů/)
premiere 25 September 1959 /suitable for youths/ (kino Alfa /2 týdny/, Praha)
renewed premiere 20 January 2000 /suitable for all ages/ (kino Lucerna, Praha)
Puppet film by Jiří Trnka based on the themes of comedy by William Shakespeare. (1959) / Project 100 – 2000. (2000)
Ministerstvo kultury České republiky (obnovená distribuce 2000), Státní fond České republiky pro podporu a rozvoj české kinematografie (obnovená distribuce 2000)
Ústřední půjčovna filmů (původní 1959), Asociace českých filmových klubů (obnovená 2000 /Projekt 100 – 2000/), Národní filmový archiv (obnovená 2000)
feature film
73 min
2 050 meters
16mm, 35mm
puppet
1:1,37, 1:2,35
colour
sound
mono, stereo
Czech
Czech, commentary
without subtitles
Czech
Exhibition: 5. mezinárodní přehlídka hudby a tance Valencie
1962
Valencie / Spain
Václav Trojan
Exhibition: 5. mezinárodní přehlídka hudby a tance Valencie
1962
Valencie / Spain
Václav Trojan
Event: Státní ceny za rok 1959
1960
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Václav Trojan
Festival: 2. mezinárodní festival loutkových filmů Bukurešť
1960
Bukurešť / Romania
Festival: 2. mezinárodní festival loutkových filmů Bukurešť
1960
Bukurešť / Romania
Festival: 4. mezinárodní festival dokumentárních a experimentálních filmů Montevideo
1959
Montevideo / Uruguay
Festival: 10. filmový festival pracujících
1959
22 měst / Czechoslovakia
Václav Trojan
Festival: 20. mezinárodní filmový festival Benátky
1959
Benátky / Italy
Festival: 12. mezinárodní filmový festival Cannes
1959
Cannes / France
Festival: 12. mezinárodní filmový festival Cannes
1959
Cannes / France
Festival: 10. filmový festival pracujících
1959
22 měst / Czechoslovakia
Jiří Trnka