Director Michael Hoffman and cinematographer Oliver Stapleton, BSC transport Shakespeare’s witty sendup of romantic longing,— A Midsummer Night’s Dream, to turn-of-the-century Tuscany.
The granddaddy of all romantic comedies, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of those Shakespeare titles that filmmakers can’t seem to resist. The Bard’s breeziest confection has been transferred to the big screen a whopping eight times, but its bizarre stew of erotic longing, mischievous comedy and sudden flights of surrealism has proven to be a rather treacherous cinematic balancing act.
The latest attempt to capture the play’s effervescent spirit on film is the fourth collaboration between cinematographer Oliver Stapleton, BSC and director Michael Hoffman—a rather surprising string, considering the duo’s decidedly inauspicious introduction.
Stapleton, a British National Film School graduate, had been shooting mainly television and music videos when he was suddenly presented with the opportunity to travel to Scotland and shoot his first feature, Restless Natives, in 1984. His surprise at being asked to shoot a feature was compounded when he learned that director Hoffman was also a first-timer. "There had been some sort of drama, and the original cameraman had dropped out in a hurry," Stapleton recalls. "They needed someone to replace him fast, and the insurance companies basically didn’t have enough time to say no, as they usually would to first-time cinematographers—especially if they’re also working with a first-time director."
Given these circumstances, it’s hardly surprising that the Restless shoot proved to be a rocky affair for both director and cinematographer. "I found Michael to be a very intense person to work with, both emotionally and intellectually," Stapleton says. "We were both young and inexperienced, and consequently quite volatile. The shoot was actually quite a strain, and by the end of the film, both he and I felt that we really didn’t want to see each other again in this lifetime!"
Stapleton and Hoffman’s career paths diverged until a decade later, when producer Andy Patterson approached Stapleton with the script for Restoration, an ambitious film set in 1660s England. "I had heard about the script, but I initially didn’t pay any attention because I knew Michael was directing," Stapleton recalls. "I knew he would never want to work with me again, and I didn’t want to work with him again. But Andy was very persistent, because Michael was really struggling to find a cinematographer. Eventually, I said okay, and got on a train to visit Michael at his office in London.—
"Then an extraordinary thing happened. I walked into his office, and it was really nice to see him. We immediately started a very long conversation. It went on and on and he ended up cancelling the rest of his appointments for that day. I can only put [our initial clash] down to the fact that we’d both been 10 years younger and a lot more nervous. Somehow the experience of Michael having made more films and my having shot more films meant that we had advanced to a psychological place that made our relationship much more satisfying and creative. We went on to make Restoration, which was an extraordinarily interesting experience for both of us, and became great friends."
Restoration went on to win Oscars for costume design (James Acheson) and production design (Eugenio Zanetti), but Hoffman feels that Stapleton’s cinematography was the film’s true triumph. "I suggested to Oliver that we use paintings from the 17th Century as a visual reference for Restoration, and I think that idea really inspired him," the director comments. "I think he surprised himself with the effects he was able to achieve and the beauty he was able to create. We didn’t have very much money, and if the sets had been lit the wrong way—not to take anything away from Eugenio’s design— they could have been shown up for what they really were. It was all about the way Oliver ’painted’ the sets, the way he kept light off of them. We also decided to use candles as main sources, which is much more time-consuming than using soft light with some candles scattered about. It was very tricky and delicate work, because Oliver used so many hidden instruments. Gabriella Pescucci, who did the costumes on A Midsummer Night’s Dream, was particularly pleased to work with Oliver because she said the lighting in Restoration was the most beautiful she’d seen in a movie in 10 years."
Among Stapleton’s other credits are eight films with British director Stephen Frears, including My Beautiful Laundrette, Prick Up Your Ears, The Grifters and The Hi-Lo Country. He has also photographed Robert Altman’s Kansas City (see AC Sept. ’96) and the upcoming Lasse Hallström film The Cider House Rules. Additional titles on his resumé include Let Him Have It, The Object of My Affection, The Designated Mourner, She-Devil, Danny—The Champion of the World (which garnered an ACE Cable Award nomination) and the sci-fi comedy Earth Girls Are Easy (which earned the cameraman an Independent Spirit Award nomination). Stapleton and Hoffman last teamed up on the romantic comedy One Fine Day.
The latest version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream was adapted for the screen by Hoffman himself, who has had a long relationship with the play. A Rhodes Scholar and Idaho native, Hoffman directed a production of Midsummer while studying Renaissance drama at Oxford University. He is also one of the founders of the Idaho Shakespeare Festival in Boise, and starred as Lysander in the Festival’s inaugural production of the play.
Hoffman’s screenplay placed Shakespeare’s colorful circle of lovestruck nobles, actors and sprites into a previously untapped milieu: Tuscany at the turn of the 19th Century. "While we were making the film, I asked Michael if he’d had any alternative ideas for the setting," Stapleton relates. "He said he’d been torn between what we eventually did and another idea to set the story in 1960s London! I think they were both very strong ideas. I could really see A Midsummer Night’s Dream working in the psychedelic world of Swinging Sixties London. But after Baz Luhrmann’s recent [modernized screen version of] Romeo and Juliet, he might have been accused of jumping on a trend and doing another wacky update of Shakespeare. Michael also spent some years during his early twenties living and working in Tuscany, so he knows the place and clearly has a great love of the Italian way of life."
[ continued on page 2 ]