Skip over navigation

Help

A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy on DVD (1982)

A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy cover art
Average rating: 65%
1113420121232
3.0
from 507 members
 
Starring: Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, Jose Ferrer, Julie Hagerty, Tony Roberts, Mary Steenburgen
Director: Woody Allen
Studio: MGM ENTERTAINMENT
Run time: 84 mins
Certificate: 15
Genres: Comedy
Languages: English
Dubbed: French, German, Italian, Spanish
Hearing-impaired: English, German
Subtitles: Dutch, French, Greek, Hungarian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish
Released: 19/08/2002

Brief synopsis of A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy

This wonderful, frothy treat from Woody Allen follows three couples frolicking in the countryside at the turn of the century. At a beautiful farmhouse in upstate New York, wealthy Andrew (Allen) passes his summer days tinkering as a hack inventor and attempting to make love with his frigid wife, Adrian (Mary Steenburgen). Then Leopold (Jose Ferrer), a self-possessed scholar, and his future wife, the highly sexed Ariel (Mia Farrow), come for a visit. The second couple added to the mix is Maxwell (Tony Roberts), a doctor, and his current girlfriend, Dulcy (Julie Hagerty), a nurse who advises Adrian on her sex life. It turns out that Andrew once had an innocent romance with Ariel, but he's one of the very few men she has met and not slept with. Now Andrew is very much interested in Ariel again--and she in him. And thus begins this whimsical farce of lust, love, and longing among friends.

Related

Critics Reviews

Rating of 4 stars out of 5 Radio Times

Woody Allen pays homage to Ingmar Bergman in this re-vamp of Smiles of a Summer Night, in which six characters gather at a turn-of-the-century farmhouse in search of sexual satisfaction. José Ferrer is the pedantic scholar engaged to Mia Farrow; Allen is the stockbroker trying to bed his frigid wife, Mary Steenburgen. The jokes come rather thin and slow for a Woody movie, with the result that Allen's oddball inventions (which include a flying bicycle) are at least as interesting as the oddball people. Gordon Willis's photography is exquisite, however, and one suspects Bergman would not be displeased.

Time Out

Monogamous at heart, Allen has ended his brief affair with Fellini (Stardust Memories out of 8) and gone back to his... Read more on www.timeout.com

Rating of 1 stars out of 4 Halliwell's Film Guide

Subdued, melancholy and rather uninventive Woody Allen variation on Smiles of a Summer Night.

See all 3 Critics Reviews »

Members Reviews

Reviews Voted Most Helpful

Rated - 3 starsSmiles of a summer Allen

Zamy from London [Highly rated reviewer] , 15/02/2005

Yes, this is a remake of Ingmar Bergman's 1950's film 'Smiles of a Summer Night'. Now I have no major objection with American re-inventions of European films. The difficulty is that this Bergman film is a classic of its kind and really cannot be improved (you can read my review on this site). So Woody's version of the three couples cavorting in their sexual couplings very much trails in the wake of his master, Bergman. Perhaps it is best to see this film as an apprentice piece that led on to Allen's more interesting and mature examinations of human sexual foibles in 'Annie Hall' and 'Manhattan'. This is still an entertaining 80 minutes and well worth a look. Then turn to the delicious Bergman film to savour something really special.

  2 out of 3 people found this review helpful
Report offending content.

Read all reviews

Rated - 3 starsFunny enough

NadeemF from Saffron Walden , 07/11/2005

A gentle comedy about 3 couples staying in a house over a few days. No particular magic moments, but enjoyable nonetheless.

  2 out of 3 people found this review helpful
Report offending content.

Read all reviews

Rated - 5 starsinsightful look into adultery with the usual comedy spin

A customer from bedfordshire , 25/04/2006

Allen often has infedelity or some kind of sexual problems arising in his films and i thought this would be no different, but it was really interesting and looked at it from all angles. There is a funny flying machine and a sphere that could see into the future - excellent. Funny yet serious. i am sure everyone could relate to one of the characters. Mia Farrow is brilliant.

Report offending content.

Read all reviews

Rated - 4 starsNicole

A customer from London, England , 18/08/2006

This is classic Woody Allen. A very cute and sexy movie.

Report offending content.

Read all reviews

Most Recent Reviews

Rated - 3 starsFunny enough

NadeemF from Saffron Walden , 07/11/2005

A gentle comedy about 3 couples staying in a house over a few days. No particular magic moments, but enjoyable nonetheless.

  2 out of 3 people found this review helpful
Report offending content.

Read all highest rated reviews

Rated - 3 starsSmiles of a summer Allen

Zamy from London [Highly rated reviewer] , 15/02/2005

Yes, this is a remake of Ingmar Bergman's 1950's film 'Smiles of a Summer Night'. Now I have no major objection with American re-inventions of European films. The difficulty is that this Bergman film is a classic of its kind and really cannot be improved (you can read my review on this site). So Woody's version of the three couples cavorting in their sexual couplings very much trails in the wake of his master, Bergman. Perhaps it is best to see this film as an apprentice piece that led on to Allen's more interesting and mature examinations of human sexual foibles in 'Annie Hall' and 'Manhattan'. This is still an entertaining 80 minutes and well worth a look. Then turn to the delicious Bergman film to savour something really special.

  2 out of 3 people found this review helpful
Report offending content.

Read all highest rated reviews