The magic is pure and pure. In the history of world animation, there are only a few films, the best definition for which is the word Magic. The latest feature-length film by animation wizard Jiri Trnka, A Midsummer Night's Dream, based on Shakespeare's comedy of the same name, is one of them. For Trnka himself, it was the main film of his life, which he made for four years and at one time, unfortunately, had neither festival nor rolling success. Some (including some critics and viewers of the Cannes Film Festival, where the film was presented in 1959) reproached this picture for being excessive in imagination, for being “unnecessarily beautiful” and far from reality, being an example of l’art pour l’art (art for art’s sake). It's as if the real magic is amenable to any restrictions or strict dosages!? In the enchanted possessions of Oberon and Titania, created on the screen of Jiri Trnkoy, real magic lives. The magical world of Trnka is so unreal, bizarre and skillfully spelled out that, considering it again and again, each time you find new fantastic details and details - one another is more beautiful. One word is magic.
It would seem that the plot is known and clear: everything revolves around one May night in the forest near Athens, where the story of two unhappy couples in love with the participation of artisans and supernatural beings who are also not alien to human weaknesses will play out. Meanwhile, Trnke managed to make a breakthrough that was appreciated only decades later - he changed the very nature of puppet cinema, teaching the matter of fragility and weightlessness. He literally loses his physicality. His "Dream" is almost devoid of text - making dolls talk Trnka considered barbaric - but filled with music, sophisticated choreography and poetry. Fragile girls are so romantic and graceful, forest spirits so unreal and mysterious, landscapes so magical that even Shakespearean irony fades into the background, giving way to soft, wordless lyrics.
10 out of 10