A Midwinter's Tale

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Matthew B There is a Christmas feel-good movie that is already several decades old. It was directed by Kenneth Branagh, a prestigious actor and director who has made both popular movies and adaptations of famous literary works, including several Shakespeare plays. It stars Joan Collins and a cast of actors well known to anyone who watched British television in the 1980s and 1990s. It is also a mostly-forgotten movie now. Many of the most successful Christmas movies deal in either fantasy or family stories. This is a film about a troupe of troubled actors staging a production of Hamlet at Christmas, hardly the most appealing subject for a wider audience. Throw in Branagh's trademark habit of filming his movies as if they are stage plays (putting the camera too far back from the action), and this can make the film seem poorly-adapted for watching on a small screen. Still perhaps this is what Branagh wanted. Just as the production of Hamlet (in the film) is a labour of love for the lead actor and stage manager Joe Harper (Michael Maloney), then so In the Bleak Midwinter is Branagh making a film that he wanted to make, rather than worrying too much about commercial success. Of course both Joe and Branagh wanted their productions to sell too, but that was not their main reason for making them. If they were after vulgar sales, they could easily have chosen a more populist subject matter. The main theme of In the Bleak Midwinter is summed up by the Noel Coward song that is played throughout the film, ‘Why Must the Show Go On?' Like Coward's song, Branagh's film is a funny and self-deprecating look at the "god-awful business of acting", and asking what it is that drives theatre actors to keep going when the work is so stressful and the returns diminishing. It might be said that Branagh's film is designed to answer that question. The movie is filmed in black-and-white to give it an old-fashioned atmosphere, and perhaps to reflect the mood of the characters at the beginning of the film. They are indeed having a bleak midwinter. None more so than the movie's hero, Joe Harper (Michael Maloney). While he considers, Margaretta agrees to help him to put on a production of Hamlet in his home town of Hope. Whether the name of the town is a good omen or not is unclear at this point. Joe is hoping to support his sister Molly (Hetta Charnley), who works as a teacher there, and save a local church from closure by showing the town has a vibrant art scene. Much of the movie follows the time-honoured clichés of films about actors putting on a production. There are the comically awful auditions in which the wheat is separated from the chaff. There are teething problems about the location of the play and the money available for it. Margaretta is available on the phone to offer warm words of support and little else. There are the constant arguments among the catty actors, who eventually will pull together and perform well. There is a good deal of hammy theatrics that have to be ironed out before the final rehearsal. These are captured in a series of short scenes where the film cross-cuts between the various antics of the actors. The production of Hamlet is about more than the play though. It is about the sense of comradeship and unity that goes with making a production. In the Bleak Midwinter might be described as a buddy movie, though unlike many buddy movies, the friends together are not all members of one sex. The production company act as a surrogate family to one another, a point that is made more than once in the film. By contrast people outside the group of friends are a threat to their harmony and unity. The invaders are cynical moviemakers wishing to steal the actors for a big film, or they are family members who disapprove of the actors for wasting their career in theatre. "Families, you know" Terry muses; "They don't work, do they?" At the end, the story draws to a happy and sentimental conclusion, but it is not a final resolution of all their problems. They will leave the town of Hope and return to their problems, but in the glory of success and comradeship, this crew of misfits and outcasts have briefly found comfort and warmth together, and this is something to celebrate. No wonder In the Bleak Midwinter is one of the best Christmas movies ever made. I wrote a longer appreciation of In the Bleak Midwinter on my blog page if you would like to read more: https://themoviescreenscene.wordpress.com/2019/12/27/in-the-bleak-midwinter-a-k-a-a-midwinters-tale-1995/ Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/25/23 Full Review Audience Member As whiny and colourless as the characters is Kenneth Branagh's black-and-white ensemble comedy lampooning a motley crew of untalented stage amateurs putting together a 'Hamlet' to its illusioned success and much hokeyness. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review Audience Member Delightful. Branagh steals several pages from Woody Allen's book in this precursor to Slings and Arrows. The lightning-speed line deliveries are at times incomprehensible, but otherwise a solid entry in the miniscule but magnificent movies-about-theatre genre. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member I remember loving this when it first came out. If only I could track down a DVD to rewatch... Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/19/23 Full Review Audience Member A little seen movie. A heart warming and very funny comedy by a fine director Kenneth Branagh. Fine a copy and enjoy. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/19/23 Full Review Audience Member A great companion to Hamlet. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review Read all reviews

A Midwinter's Tale

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