Travis Simpkins: A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982): Woody Allen and Mia Farrow

Sunday, September 2, 2018

A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982): Woody Allen and Mia Farrow

Written and directed by Woody Allen, A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982) was the first of more than a dozen films he would make starring his then-romantic flame, Mia Farrow. It also marked the first time Woody Allen acted in anything but a lead role in one of his own films, appearing as just another member of the ensemble cast. Set at a rural vacation home in the early 1900's, and dealing with a tangled web of crisscrossed amorous feelings within a group of people, A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy is a take on Ingmar Bergman's Smiles of a Summer Night (1955). The period detail and atmosphere is compelling and the cast is great, including Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, Jose Ferrer, Julie Hagerty, Mary Steenburgen and Tony Roberts.